Not too shabby

How many are wondering how Sun Prairie High really ranks against its peers?  Did anyone look?  How many can't wait until November 7th to get past all these ads?

Well we took a look at the "report card" data for comparable high schools.  Now, Dr. Culver would want us to state clearly what comparable we seek.  So...to be clear...we are NOT going to compare Sun Prairie High to other Dane Co. schools.  There's simply far too much variability there for any comparison to be worthwhile.

Instead we looked at the 20 school districts closest in size to Sun Prairie in terms of total enrollment.   These will be moderate to large sized cities who, at least in  theory, face many of the same challenges as Sun Prairie.   For the record, there is a school board policy which states that administrator salary ranges are to be based on averages from the 14 school districts closest in size to Sun Prairie.  We figure that if it's a good enough basis for administrator salaries, it must be good for student performance...right?

So...ho did we fare?  Not too shabby. 6th out of 31 high schools to be exact.  That's really pretty good...so why don't we have more National Merit scholars?

We looked at the data to see if there were any significant correlations between accountability scores and  school enrollment (NO!), percent of minority students (inverse correlation, statistically significant), and percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged kids (inverse correlation, extreme statistical significance).

As the clock ticks ever closer towards election day, perhaps one measure of a candidate's strength is the ability to fight poverty.  Coming in a very close second is the likelihood that a candidate will properly fund schools to deal with achievement gaps.

Here's a tip...making the rich richer is not part of the equation.

New State Report Cards Offer a Look at Statewide High Schools

Schools will be graded on Reading and Math achievement,
closing the gaps on reading, math, and graduation rates, and
post-secondary readiness, focusing on graduation rates, and
participation in college entry exams.

First Impressions
 Wisconsin high schools look pretty good...right?  Only 17 of over 400 high schools "Fail to Meet Expectations".  Over 86% of all WI public high schools meet or exceed expectations.  Life is good...yes?

And it looks like a good plan to evaluate districts/schools on more than just test scores....right?

One think to keep in mind that 40 high schools received overall scores of "Not Rated" due to either suspected errors, or insufficient data.


Second Thoughts
Hold on just a sec....over 37% of high schools EXCEED expectations? Not that that isn't a good thing...but weren't we told to expect gloom and doom with the new evaluation system?

The plot of high schools vs. overall assessment seems  a little right slanted, wouldn't you say?  In the NFL, they call this a trips right formation.

What we find interesting, however, is that if you score the overall report card grades as a letter grade using standard grading conventions.  Things do not look so good.  The plot now becomes left leaning (trips left).

We still have a skewed set of data...and that bears some monitoring.  Which is it do you think? Trips left? Or trips right?  One will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about the status of education isn Wisconsin.  Should we just go with that one, then?


Third Degree

Are we now grading on the curve?  Or have we merely lowered our expectations?  Hear us out here.  The maximum accountability score is 100%.  That sure looks like a standard grading chart.

But the new scoring rubric seems a little unappetizing.  A score of 63-72.9 yields an evaluation of "Meets Expectations"?  Really?  If your kid came home with a score of 63% on a test, would you say, "Ohhh...Johnny, you've met expectations, we're so proud of you!"?
Yeah...we didn't think so.

So have we just dumbed this all down to make us all feel better while districts are quietly told to clean up their acts?  Of course...what would be the incentive?  Hey...we met expectations...what more do you want?  Should we be concerned that only 4 high schools "significantly" meet expectations?

Perhaps this is some good watercooler conversation fodder.