By Kim McDarison 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Tuesday released its 2021-22 school year district report cards. 

According to a DPI news release, “a majority of public school districts, schools, and choice schools met or exceeded expectations and have maintained the same ratings compared to the previous year.” 

Among data reported for the School District of Fort Atkinson, three of the district’s elementary school buildings and its middle school received “overall accountability scores” of “exceeds expectations,” represented with four stars. The system rates districts and schools using scores, denoted by stars, of 1-5, with 5, signifying the most desirable score. 

Barrie Elementary School received a top overall accountability score of “significantly exceeds expectations,” represented by five stars. 

The Fort Atkinson High School received an overall accountability score of “meets few expectations,” represented with two stars. 

Among data reported for the Whitewater Unified School District, three of the district’s school buildings, Lincoln and Lakeview elementary schools and the high school received overall accountability scores of “meets expectations,” represented with three stars.

Washington Elementary School received an overall accountability score of “exceeds expectations,” represented with four stars. 

The Whitewater Middle School received an overall accountability score of “meets few expectations,” represented with two stars. 

What are DPI report cards? 

DPI report cards, published annually, include data on multiple indicators for multiple school years across four priority areas: achievement, growth, target group outcomes, and an area titled “on-track to graduation.” 

Districts are given an “overall accountability score,” placing them, and their schools, into one of five overall accountability ratings: “Significantly Exceeds Expectations,” represented with five stars; “Exceeds Expectations,” represented with four stars; “Meets Expectations,” represented with three stars; “Meets Few Expectations,” represented with two stars, and “Fails to Meet Expectations,” represented with one star. 

The cards use up to three years of data, the release noted, including achievement data from the following school years: 2018-19, 2020-21 and 2021-22. 

The release stated: “Requirements were waived for the 2019-20 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and report cards were not produced. The DPI urges caution when interpreting scores and ratings due to impacts resulting from the pandemic.” 

Overall findings 

According to the release, during the 2021-22 school year, 377 public school districts received DPI school report cards, of which 358 met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations, which the release noted, was 95% of the districts evaluated. 

During the 2021-22 school years, some 2,104 report cards were produced for schools within Wisconsin’s districts. Of those schools, 184 or 9% were unable to be scored and were rated using alternate accountability. Of the remaining 1,920, 1,619 or 84% met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations. 

Of 1,883 schools receiving report cards in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, 1,226 experienced no change, 231 increased their positioning by at least one rating category, and 426 decreased their positioning by at least one category. 

Additionally, DPI produced 391 report cards for private schools participating in a Wisconsin School Choice Program during the 2021-22 school year. Of that number, 58% were unable to be scored due to the school’s choice student population being too small to meet the conditions required to produce scores. Of the remaining 163 schools, 142 or 87% met, exceeded or significantly exceeded exceptions.  

Of the 132 choice schools receiving report card ratings in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, 72 experienced no change, 17 moved up at least one category, and 43 moved down at least one category. 

Individualized 2021-22 data for area districts 

School districts within and surrounding the Fort Atkinson Online readership area received the following overall accountability scores: 

Fort Atkinson: 68.3, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Fort_Atkinson_2021-22_006510.pdf. 

Whitewater: 61.6, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Whitewater_Unified_2021-22_004160.pdf. 

Jefferson: 64.7, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Jefferson_2021-22_006733.pdf. 

Milton: 68.3, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Milton_2021-22_006991.pdf. 

Palmyra-Eagle: 68.0, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Palmyra-Eagle_Area_2021-22_003578.pdf. 

Watertown: 66.1, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Watertown_Unified_2021-22_002410-1.pdf. 

Janesville: 60.2, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Janesville_2021-22_006597.pdf. 

Delavan-Darien: 62.8, “meets expectations,” three stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Delavan-Darien_2021-22_002730.pdf. 

Lake Mills: 71.9, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Lake_Mills_Area_2021-22_006785.pdf. 

Elkhorn: 71.9, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. The full report card is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRCDetail_Public_Elkhorn_Area_2021-22_002827.pdf. 

2021-22 data for schools within the School District of Fort Atkinson

Overall accountability scores earned by each school within the School District of Fort Atkinson follow.  

Barrie Elementary: 83.2, “significantly exceeds expectations,” five stars. 

Luther Elementary: 78.8, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. 

Purdy Elementary: 70.2, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. 

Rockwell Elementary: 70.2, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. 

Fort Atkinson Middle School, 76.6, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. 

Fort Atkinson High School, 57.3, “meets few expectations,” two stars. 

2021-22 data for schools within the Whitewater Unified School District

Overall accountability scores earned by each school within the Whitewater Unified School District follow.  

Lakeview Elementary: 67.0, “meets expectations,” three stars.

Lincoln Elementary: 58.2, “meets expectations,” three stars.

Washington Elementary, 80.3, “exceeds expectations,” four stars. 

Whitewater Middle School, 54.3, “meets few expectations,” two stars. 

Whitewater High School, 64.8, “meets expectations,” three stars.

An earlier story about ACT scores is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/wisconsin-dpi-releases-2021-22-act-act-aspire-forward-exam-scores/

The full DPI release about public and school choice district report cards is here: https://dpi.wi.gov/news/releases/2022/district-school-report-cards. 

A portal provided on the DPI website through which individual report cards can be accessed is here: https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/home.