Summary

The report highlights sobering 2024 statistics: only 5.8% of Black 11th-graders in Madison—22 out of 310 students—were prepared for college-level reading and writing, compared to 27% of Black students nationally and 10.3% statewide. In math, just 7.1% of Madison’s Black 11th-graders were college-ready, lagging behind 8% nationally and 6.4% across Wisconsin.

Wisconsin ranks last among states in reading and math achievement for Black students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the report notes. In contrast, states like Texas, Florida, and Mississippi have improved their standings over the past two decades through sustained, targeted reforms, offering lessons Madison has yet to fully embrace.

Spanning from the 1960s to the present, the report traces Madison’s efforts to address racial inequities in education. Desegregation policies in the 1960s aimed to integrate schools but often placed Black students in underfunded classrooms with minimal support. The 1970s brought compensatory education programs, followed by curriculum reforms in the 1990s and early 2000s. Each initiative launched with promise but stumbled due to inconsistent execution, budget cuts, or leadership turnover. 

By 2020, the report states, Madison’s Black students faced a graduation rate of 65%, trailing white students’ 85% by 20 percentage points. Standardized test score gaps have similarly persisted, with Black students scoring 30% lower on average than white peers in reading and math.

Caire’s analysis identifies a troubling pattern: well-intentioned programs are introduced, encounter structural or political barriers, and are replaced before they can take hold.

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The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…

The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”

My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results

2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results 

Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.

“An emphasis on adult employment”

Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]

WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators

Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results

Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.

When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?