The vast majority of Wisconsin’s public school districts that received report cards met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations for the 2024-25 school year, according to new Department of Public Instruction data. 

Meanwhile, 70 public schools failed to meet expectations. No public school districts were rated as failing to meet expectations, which DPI staff during a media briefing yesterday said has typically been the case in recent years. 

Asked if standards for the report cards are too lenient, DPI spokesperson Chris Bucher noted a panel of education stakeholders approved the current benchmarks. 

“We trust that process, the standard-setting process, and so did Dr. Underly with adopting their recommendations,” Bucher said, referring to state schools Superintendent Jill Underly. 

“And the group also voted 25-1 as well, so I think it’s a good reflection of where we are today, more so than where we were previously,”  he added.

Ninety-four percent of the 378 public school districts that received report cards, 355 districts, met, exceeded, or significantly exceeded expectations. Eighty-five percent of public schools that received report cards met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations — 1,625 of 1,920 schools. Of the schools, 141 received alternate ratings due to limited data. 

DPI noted overall accountability scores for the 2024-25 school year can’t be compared to prior years due to scoring changes approved in the standard-setting process that took place over the summer. 

The conservative Institute for Reforming Government criticized the report cards as “mostly meaningless.”

“DPI’s state report cards say rich districts are worth the property taxes, even when they aren’t, and poor districts meet expectations, even when they don’t. Meanwhile, DPI underrates many of Wisconsin’s best districts,” Senior Research Director Quinton Klabon said. “Parents should not have to play a guessing game about where their children can learn best.”

GOP leaders of the Legislature’s education committees didn’t immediately return requests for comment on the report cards. 

Report cards give schools and districts an overall accountability score out of 100, and assign them to categories including “fails to meet expectations,” “meets few expectations,” “meets expectations,” “exceeds expectations” and “significantly exceeds expectations.”

The reports also score priority areas out of 100, including:

  • Achievement, which measures students’ performance in reading and math compared to state standards;
  • growth, which reflects how quickly students are improving each year;
  • target group outcomes, which show how students with the lowest test scores are performing; and
  • factors that indicate if students are on track to graduate.

Several of the state’s largest public school districts were rated as meeting few expectations. 

According to the report cards: 

  • The Madison Metropolitan School District scored 69.8 overall. The district scored 61 for achievement, 76.5 for growth, 63.7 for target group outcomes and 73.4 for on-track to graduation.
  • The Racine Unified School District scored 57.4 overall. The district scored 39 for achievement, 59.4 for growth, 52.8 for target group outcomes and 64.5 for on-track to graduation. 
  • Milwaukee Public Schools scored 59.5 overall. MPS scored 35 for achievement, 67.9 for growth, 53.9 for target group outcomes, and 54.7 for on-track to graduation. 

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius touted the district’s literacy plan to align reading instruction practices with requirements under the state’s literacy law, Act 20. 

“We need to grow more and faster to truly meet and exceed the expectations that our families and community have for us — and the expectations we have for each other as educators. Our new Literacy Plan is the first step toward stronger growth,” Cassellius said. 

The report card data also show 85% of schools participating in the Private School Choice Program met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations — 161 of 436 schools — while 247 schools weren’t scored due to insufficient data, such as small student populations and low test participation rates. No private schools were rated as failing to meet expectations.

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