DPI Releases School State Report Card

November 2019

Dear La Farge Families,

We have had a wonderful Fall at La Farge Schools! In the elementary, we are excited about reading workshop and our team-approach to decision making. In the middle school and high school, we are excited about the numbers of students enrolled in career/technical education, and our dual-credit offerings. As a learning community, we are continually looking to improve our learning indicators. One source we use to reflect on our strengths and areas for improvement is the School Report Card.

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) generates a School Report Card and District Report Card for every publicly funded school and district in the state. These public report cards can be found online at: http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards. The Report Cards are intended to help schools and districts utilize performance data to target their improvement efforts so that students are ready for their next educational step – including the next grade level, graduation, college, and careers.

The current School Report Card is primarily based on last year’s performance, the 2018-19 school year. At the foundation of the report cards are four priority areas. Schools and districts receive a score for each priority area:

Student Achievement proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics on the annual state assessments
School Growth measured by year-to-year progress in ELA and math achievement

Closing Gaps in performance between specific student groups (comparing English learners, low-income students, students with disabilities, and members of a racial or an ethnic group with their peers)
On-Track and Postsecondary Readiness showing reliable predictors of how many students are on-track to graduate from high school and student readiness for post-high school success

Schools and districts are also evaluated on their level of student engagement – chronic absenteeism rates and dropout rates – when applicable.

The priority area scores are aggregated into an overall accountability score, from 0 to 100. This score is displayed in the top left corner of the School or District Report Cards. It is important to note that the 0 to 100 accountability score is not a “percent correct” measurement. Based on its score, a school or district receives one of five rating categories, from Fails to Meet Expectations to Significantly Exceeds Expectations, as well as corresponding one to five stars.

Here’s some information we’d like to share from our La Farge Schools report cards:

In the elementary, English/Language Arts growth is above the state average
In the middle and high schools, our ELA and Math growth is in line with the state average
Across our schools, attendance is above the state average
Like many schools, we struggle with achievement gaps in ELA and Math

I want to share these results with you because they help illuminate some of our successes and help to pinpoint areas of focus in our school/district. But as DPI stresses, these report cards are just one source of information about our school. Here are some additional results that shows we are moving in the right direction.

Many of our middle school and high school students are achieved honor roll or high honor roll status during 4th quarter
We are seeing increased family engagement in the elementary, and teachers have begun a take-home bag program with the early elementary
We have record numbers of students participating in our music programs
Focus on the Redefining Ready benchmark indicators of a college and/or career ready La Farge graduate

DPI has produced two versions of each Report Card: a quick one-pager labeled “School Report Card” and lengthier, detailed version labeled, “School Report Card Detail.” Both versions can be accessed online at http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards along with resources that explain the report cards. As required, our District and School Report Cards are also posted on our website, in both the documents section and under the Superintendent's Welcome page.

Please let me know your thoughts and questions as they arise. I look forward to working with you to make 2019-20 a successful school year for your child!

Sincerely,

Meaghan Gustafson

District Administrator