Local schools do well on state report cards - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

ONALASKA, Wisconsin (WXOW)— The majority of the state's schools meet or exceed expectations according to School Report Cards, an alternative to the national no child left behind program.

The preliminary report card shows a number of local schools performed well according to the standards.

One of the top performing districts in the state is the School District of Onalaska.

The state average overall accountability score is 70.2, Onalaska High School's score is 77.9 and Eagle Bluff Elementary made the top 25 schools in the state with a score of 86.9.

"That's a tribute to the work that the staff does, the commitment that the kids have to learning and really the community and parents," Superintendent Fran Finco said. "The community saying we're going to support your schools with the money that you need to continuously get better."

The districts goal is to take the tax dollars the community gives them, and spend it the best way to get the best possible result.

"We work as hard as we can to spend frugally but to get awesome results and sometimes we don't get such good results then we go back and say how can we do better?" Finco said.

He said one reason they're doing well is because teachers work in teams...and their goal isn't just to help the 20 students in their class.

"Their goal is the whole group of students at the second and third grade," Finco said. "We're all in this together so to speak. As a whole determine what all 60 students need and who is going to work with what level of students."

The report cards measure a number of things including:

• student achievement in reading and mathematics on statewide assessments using college and career-ready proficiency levels;
• student growth in reading and mathematics, measured by year-to-year improvements in achievement;
• closing gaps for reading and mathematics achievement and graduation, based on the performance of specific student groups (English-language learners, low-income students, students with disabilities, and students from racial or ethnic groups and their peers); and
• on-track and post secondary readiness, which uses graduation or attendance rates, third-grade reading achievement, eighth-grade mathematics achievement, and ACT participation and performance as predictors of college and career readiness.

"In our district, we said now that we have that information, we have no excuse not to address the gaps in those areas," Finco said.

None of the schools in the Onalaska or La Crosse school districts failed to meet expectations.

The top performing school in the state is Wauwatosa STEM with an overall accountability rating of 96.

"These preliminary report cards provide valuable information for parents and educators as a foundation for helping all of our schools improve and I encourage looking beyond the score or rating," State Superintendent Tony Evers said. "Whereas, the majority of schools meet or exceed expectations, detailed report cards provide data that will help them get even better."

Wisconsin issued 2011-12 preliminary report cards for 2,118 public schools, including 21 independent charter schools.

Sixty-eight schools received an accountability index rating of significantly exceeds expectations.

For the other rating categories, 637 schools exceed expectations, 906 schools meet expectations, 190 schools meet few expectations, and 76 schools fail to meet expectations.

About 11 percent of schools (241) were not rated because they are new schools or alternative schools that are too small or lack sufficient assessment data to receive an overall accountability rating.

The annual school report cards were based on the work of the District and School Accountability Design Team and federal requirements.

They were developed to be both informative and useful. For schools that meet few or fail to meet expectations, funding will be sought to develop a statewide system of support to provide resources for implementing reforms that help all students to graduate college and career ready.

If funded, future plans also will include resources to disseminate best practices in schools exceeding expectations.

Click here to see report cards from schools around the state.

Additionally, a state-level download file includes data from each school's Report Card: http:dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/xls/2011-12reportcarddata.xlsx.