State Report Cards
Performance Priority Areas
The week of October 8th, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is scheduled to issue a School Report Card for every public school in Wisconsin. The School Report Card is intended to help parents understand how their child’s school is doing and where it can improve. The new report cards are also intended to help all Wisconsin public schools get a better picture of how well they help children learn, advance to the next grade, and graduate ready for college and career. The DPI’s goal is to help every student in a Wisconsin school succeed, graduate, and be ready to pursue further education and a career.
How were the School Report Cards developed? The School Report Cards are just one part of a new, statewide accountability system for schools. The Governor, State Superintendent, legislative leaders, and DPI staff worked with the U.S. Department of Education to shape the new accountability system.
How does the School Report Card work? Each school will earn a “score,” called an accountability index score, from 0 to 100. This score is displayed on the report card. The accountability index score that your school receives is based on the school’s performance in four priority areas:
- Student Achievementin reading and mathematics on state tests
- Student Growth measured by year-to-year improvements in achievement (Arrowhead will not receive a score due to the fact that the DPI does not compare 8th grade state tests to 10th grade tests)
- Closing Gaps in performance between specific student groups (comparing English language learners, low-income students, students with disabilities, and members of racial or ethnic group with their peers)
- On-track/Postsecondary Readiness,including graduation or attendance rates, reading and math achievement, and ACT participation and performance.
In addition, the School Report Card displays the school’s performance on three areas of student engagement:
- Test Participation Ratein reading and mathematics state tests
- Absenteeism Rate measuring chronic absenteeism
- Dropout rate measuring the number of students dropping out of school
A school is placed into one of five ratings—based on its performance in the above areas—from
Significantly Exceeds Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Meets Few Expectations, and Fails to Meet Expectations.
A sample report card is displayed on the Arrowhead Schools Blog for your review and consideration. Future posts on the Arrowhead Blog site will include information specific to Arrowhead High School. Please continue to check back daily.
