Marshfield School District exceeds expectations

For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — On Nov. 17 the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released the Accountability Report Card Ratings for each school and school district in the state. This is the first year for the new report cards, which have multiple changes, including a new weighted formula for achievement and growth.

A press release from the DPI explained, “Accountability ratings are calculated on four priority areas: student achievement in English language arts and mathematics, student growth, closing gaps between student groups, and measures of readiness for graduation and postsecondary success, which includes graduation and attendance rates, third-grade English language arts achievement, and eighth-grade mathematics achievement. Additionally, schools and districts could have point deductions for missing targets for these student engagement factors: test participation (95 percent for all students and each subgroup), absenteeism (less than 13 percent), and dropout rates (less than 6 percent). Test participation deductions were not applied to district report cards,” only to individual schools’.

The School District of Marshfield received a score of 81.7 and an “exceeds expectations” rating. Six schools in the School District of Marshfield exceeded expectations in 2015-2016: Madison Elementary, Nasonville Elementary, Washington Elementary, Grant Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, and Marshfield Middle School. Three of these six “significantly exceeded expectations.”

New this year was how student growth is measured. It is based on a value-added model rather than students measured on growth percentiles. The DPI has noted the “new weighting formula will adjust the weight of student achievement and student growth to account for the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in the school or district.”

Marshfield High School was graded at a 72.9, a “meets expectations” rating. Marshfield High School continues to score above the state average in the student achievement and readiness for graduation and postsecondary success categories.

The continued focus for not only Marshfield High School but the entire School District of Marshfield will be on “closing the gaps.” As defined on Marshfield High School’s Report Card from the DPI, “This measure acknowledges schools that raise the performance of traditionally lagging student groups, contributing to the closure of statewide gaps. The growth in the proficiency rate of economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, and students with disabilities is compared against the growth in the state rate for each traditionally higher scoring comparison group.”

The School District of Marshfield believes student achievement and growth of all students is important to overall success. In the past few years, the district has enhanced its student support model, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). MTSS is based on the assumption that all students can learn and achieve when provided with effective teaching, research-based instruction, and access to a standards-based curriculum. Additional resources and staff have been added to ensure students who need additional support have access to it.

To view School District of Marshfield and school-specific Report Cards, go to marshfieldschools.org/Page/526.