So...if we were to spin this like Tim Culver, we say something like, "In a tumultuous year, Sun Prairie students maintained footing with students throughout Dane Co.". Yup, that's about what we did, alright.We're not aspiring to be leaders, we're striving for--and achieving--mediocrity!
Actually, we moved two slots up to 12th out of 16 Dane Co. districts, largely on a huge leap at the 8th grade tier. Last year, the 8th grade (15th out of 16 districts) pulled the district average down from about 10th to #12.
Sorry folks, but we expect better. We'd rather rank 12th in cost of schools or overall debt, and be 1sxt or 2nd in WKCE scores. In a year that all our heads are certain to all be spinning from all the political number manipulation, we just can't see this as anything other than a clear statement that we offer an average education. Anything else just wouldn't pass the straight face test.
If you look at our rank by average score of tests on 5 subjects time 3 grade levels (4,8,10): 10 of 16
If you look at our rank by average rank of 3 grade levels (4,8,10): 9 of 16
If you look at our rank based on average percentage points above state averages: 10 of 16
Honestly, any which way you look...we're average.
Perhaps we are narrowing the achievement gap, as the news release issued in March indicates...which would be awesome. But otherwise, we are merely treading water.
District Spin Doctoring
"The 2011 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) results were announced today and again reveal strong academic achievement for students in the Sun Prairie Area School District."Strong? That's a Randy Jackson or J.Lo analysis. As Simon Cowell would day, "If I'm being honest, it was rather mediocre." Everything is relative...right? If your kid brings home "B"s on his report card, you're pretty jazzed (except this is in Sun Prairie and it would be "A"s...oh...wait..."4"s.). But if your kid is getting "B"s, you're not so amped when your learn that every other kid (or at least the ones you monitor) is getting "A"s.
OMG...They Failed Kenny!
Let's face it. We all knew (or know) a "Kenny". For us, Kenny was a neighbor kid that...um...let's say..."didn't test well". He was also the kid you could get to do any wacky thing you wanted... but that's a different story. Let's just say that Kenny didn't go far. Last we saw, he was hanging out at the dead end doin' doobies and desperately seeking an STD. When we wanted to monitor our kid's educational progress, we were more interested in Charlene's grades. Charlene brought home the grades, baby. Granted, sometimes we wanted to egg her (OK...maybe some of us DID egg her) because her Shiny Happy People shtick was annoying. But Charlene is who you were chasing for grades. You wanted all your teachers to note that you were following in Charlene's footsteps. Minus the eggstains, albeit.
Dane Co.'s "Kenny" is the Madison school district. We don't expect much...we KNOW they'll always be on the bottom of the Dane Co. WKCE scores. But we DO care about the Middletons, the Waunakees, and some others. Those are our Charlenes. But we're chasing NINE of 'em! Now we're behind DeForest, Monona Grove, Oregon, Mount Horeb, Wisconsin Heights. WTF? Wisconsin Heights? We can't even outperform Wisconsin Heights? C'mon, man! Wisconsin Heights is the school district equivalent of Flick from "A Christmas Story" ...you know....the kid the gang cajoled into sticking his tongue to the pole? Well...in fairness, it WAS a triple dog dare....but...C'MON MAN! We're not doing very well.
Was it awful to compare districts to characters? Pardonne nous. But a point had to be made.
"Combining all grade levels, 88% of Sun Prairie students are proficient or advanced in reading and 87% are proficient or advanced in math! Math increased a percentage from last year, while reading remained the same."Compared to Dame Co. districts, we rank....11th! So...sure...88% proficient or advanced in reading is awesome. But again, if there are 10 other Dame Co. districts doing even better than that....does it not taint our performance just a tad? Over 90% of Waunakee and Wisconsin Heights kids are Proficient or Advanced in reading. So again....you need to consider the data RELATIVE to the rest of the world.
In Math, we definitely fare better. Only 7 other districts have a higher percentage of students scoring as Proficient or Advanced. Again, Waunakee has over 90% of its kids scoring as Proficient or Advanced. In sports, Middleton may be our prime nemesis, but in academics, its Waunakee.
Indicators of ConcernAdditional growth is desired? Ummmm... ya think? Once again, for reading, we rank ....wait for it....9th among Dane Co. districts at the 4th grade level. Math we fare better, ranking 6th. But relative to the statewide average, at grade 4, SPASD (87.1% proficient or advanced) is only a mere 3.2% above the state average (83.7% proficient or advanced).
• Elementary reading scores remain consistently above the state average, but additional growth is desired.
• The achievement gap persists in some areas.
And...really...Other than the ongoing achievement gap, the district has exactly ONE "Indicator of Concern" with these results? THAT, mes amis, is an indicator of concern in and of itself!
Indicators of SuccessOK...here we go again. Sure it's nice that 50 and 50% of our students are "Advanced" in math and reading respectively. But that's like toast without butter. We SHOULD want a benchmark against which to evaluate those numbers. So again we looked at the combined grades 4,8,and 10 for all Dane Co. districts. Doing all the calculations for "all students" is just too much like work. And once again, we rank squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of percent of students at these grade levels scoring as proficient in reading and math. 9 out of 16 for reading and 8 out of 16 for math.
• Math scores in grade 4 and 7 have improved three years in a row.
• 50% of Sun Prairie students are “advanced” in math
• 53% of Sun Prairie students are “advanced” in reading
• Prairie View Middle School increased achievement in all grades and subject areas.
Anyway you slice it folks, our students' learning is about average when compared to school districts in one of the better counties in the state. Is it the curriculum? The level of teaching? Teaching to the test? NOT teaching to the test? Poverty? Diversity? Class size? All things we looked at and will share with you.
Because this got so long, we'll post the data/graphics separately. We think they speak for themselves anyway.
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