The Department of Public Instruction has announced an effort to revamp state report cards for Wisconsin schools, saying a cross-section of educators will be involved in making sure the system “remains valid, fair, and aligned with current expectations.”
The changes will be reflected on the 2024-25 report cards that will be released this fall.
The effort comes on the heels of the agency revising the benchmarks for standardized testing. Critics accused DPI of completing the overhaul without adequate public input and of lowering standards, accusations the agency rejected.
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DPI spokesperson Chris Bucher said the agency is trying to bring more attention to the process after its experience with the overhaul of the testing benchmarks.
“We wanted to make sure we overcommunicated,” Bucher said.
Senate Education Committee Chair John Jagler, R-Watertown, said DPI met with him before the announcement, explained the process and let him know who will be involved. He said all are improvements over the process that resulted in the revamped benchmarks for standardized test scores. Jagler is also open to taking a new look at the report card standards. But he’s still skeptical of the agency based on his experience with standardized testing changes.
“At least they got the message that you can’t just blow past us and not have eyebrows raised,” Jagler said.
DPI released a list of 32 people who will serve on the panel, including 25 representatives from public school districts. The other seven include members from: virtual schools, charter schools, Catholic schools, an education nonprofit, the UW-Madison School of Education, CESA 9 and voucher schools.
They will review and recommend updates on score ranges for the report cards, which have been in place for 15 years. Bucher stressed the work will be guided by Wisconsin’s Technical Advisory Committee and facilitated by the Center for Assessment.
The center is a national group that specializes in accountability systems.
