Accountability: Report card scores for most Madison schools take small hit

Matthew DeFour, via a kind reader's email

The report card scores of nearly all Madison schools will be reduced slightly after the district discovered it had reported incorrect student attendance data to the state and revised it.

In most cases the new, lower scores -- which the Department of Public Instruction plans to update on its website next week -- have no impact on the rating each Madison school receives on the report card. But six schools will be downgraded to a lower category.

Randall and Van Hise elementaries, which were rated in the highest performance category, are now in the second-highest tier. Olson and Chavez elementaries are now in the middle tier. And Mendota and Glendale elementaries are in the second-lowest tier.

The corrections -- prompted by a State Journal inquiry -- have no immediate practical ramifications, though the implications are significant as state leaders contemplate tying school funding to the report card results.

Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, said it's "extremely important" that the data used to rate schools is accurate. The report cards are part of the state's new school accountability system, and DPI has proposed directing resources to schools struggling in certain categories.

"The report cards are only as good as the data that goes into them," he said.

Props to DeFour and the Wisconsin State Journal for digging and pushing.

Related: Madison Mayor Paul Soglin: "We are not interested in the development of new charter schools".

Where does the Madison School District Get its Numbers from?

Global Academic Standards: How we Outrace the Robots and www.wisconsin2.org.

An Update on Madison's Use of the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Assessment, including individual school reports. Much more on Madison and the MAP Assessment, here.

I strongly support diffused governance of our public schools. One size fits all has outlived its usefulness.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 14, 2012 10:22 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas