Are Waukesha Schools Making the Grade?

Fifty-six percent of Waukesha schools are meeting or exceeding expectations, according to new data released Monday by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Approximately 15 percent of Waukesha schools are meeting few expectations. Data for 30 percent of Waukesha’s schools – eight schools – were not available. Nineteen percent of the 27 schools exceed expectations while the remaining 37 percent of schools are meeting expectations.

Waukesha Superintendent Todd Gray told the Waukesha School Board earlier this month that the information from the DPI is 12-month-old data “that’s being worked to fit the new formula.” The Waukesha School District found errors in the report cards and the DPI is reviewing that information for the schools that do not have a score available.

The state Department of Public Instruction rolled out its new School Report Cards on Monday. It’s a new accountability system that allowed Wisconsin to earn a waiver from meeting certain 2014 requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Data was released to schools earlier this month, but was embargoed to allow districts to vet them for errors.

Under the new system, schools will be graded in these areas:

• Student achievement in reading and mathematics on state assessments.
• Student growth measured by year-to-year improvements in achievement.
• Closing gaps in performance between specific student groups.
• Progress to graduation/post secondary readiness using reliable predictors of high school graduation and post-secondary success.

Schools will receive scores using a 0 to 100 scale, corresponding with five categories starting at "Fails to Meet Expectations" and topping out with "Significantly Exceeds Expectations."

The scores will be detailed in 18-page report on each school. The DPI scoring uses last year’s data.

Gray, during the school board meeting Oct. 10 questioned the ranking of schools.

“We would never assign a student a single grade for all the work they do throughout their high school career, but that is what is happening here,” Gray said.

A message left Monday with Gray’s office was not immediately returned.

School

Grade

Banting Elementary School

N/A

Bethesda Elementary School

N/A

Blair Elementary School

N/A

Hadfield Elementary School

65.6 (Meets Expectations)

Hawthorne Elementary School

66.8 (Meets Expectations)

Heyer Elementary School

71 (Meets Expectations)

Hillcrest Elementary School

76.8 (Exceeds Expectations)

Lowell Elementary School

70.8 (Meets Expectations)

Meadowbrook Elementary School

69.7 (Meets Expectations)

Prairie Elementary School

68.4 (Meets Expectations)

Rose Glen Elementary School

76.7 (Exceeds Expectations)

Summit View Elementary School

72.8 (Meets Expectations)

Waukesha STEM Academy

80.3 (Exceeds Expectations)

White Rock Elementary School (Now Closed)

56.4 (Meets Few Expectations)

Whittier Elementary School

57.6 (Meets Few Expectations)

Butler Middle School

N/A

Central Middle School

N/A

Horning Middle School

59.5 (Meets Few Expectations)

Harvey Philip Alternative School

N/A

North High School

68.4 (Meets Expectations)

Project Change

N/A

South High School

56.3 (Meets Few Expectations)

Waukesha Academy of Health Professionals

81 (Exceeds Expectations)

Waukesha Engineering Preparatory School

N/A

West High School

78.1 (Exceeds Expectations)

eAchieve Academy

67 (Meets Expectations)