State education officials are out with report cards for Wisconsin schools. The numerical ratings are based on a new set of standards being used by the Department of Public Instruction to evaluate schools.
Laura Pinsonneault with DPI says they provide an accountability scale of zero to 100 in four key areas; student achievement, student growth, closing achievement gaps, and if students are on track for graduation and post-secondary education.
More than 2,100 Wisconsin schools received report cards, with 85-percent meeting or exceeding state expectations. In all, 76 schools failed by receiving rankings below 53.
Pinsonneault says they expect the factors that lead to the current ratings to change over time as new state testing standards are put in place. She says new assessment systems coming online in 2014, along with a proposal to have all high school students take the ACT, will provide DPI with more data consider when applying the accountability index to schools.
Governor Scott Walker praised the large number of high-performing schools, but added that too many others are failing.