MINOCQUA – The Lakeland Union High School for the second consecutive year “meets expectations,” according to the annual accountability report card issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
The unified high school earned a three-star rating on a 5-star scale. “The report cards for the 2018-19 school year include data on multiple indicators for multiple years across four priority areas: Student Achievement, School Growth, Closing Gaps, and On-Track and Post-Secondary Readiness.
In addition, given the impact on student success, the report cards also measure chronic absenteeism and dropout rates,” says the DPI website. While LUHS administrators could point to areas where they exceeded the state averages, there were other areas they trailed the state.
LUHS achieved an overall score of 65.3 out of 100 points, which puts it in the middle of five overall accountability ratings. The highest is “significantly exceeds” (83-100) while the lowest is “fails to meet expectations (0-52.9). To make the next “exceeds expectations” rank, the district would have had to score at least a 73. Last year’s report card carried a score of 69.8 -- best ever for LUHS. However, it did not include the new School Growth category.
DPI is now including results of the ACT Aspire test taken by ninth- and 10th-grade students in order to measure academic growth at high schools for the first time, Administrator Rob Way, who also holds the title of Director of Curriculum, went through the report card scores at Monday’s school board meeting. He said the latest report card reflects testing of 98 percent of the student body, compared to 93 percent the year before. This is also the first year that the district has a math interventionist, whose job it is to provide individual or small group instruction to students who are struggling academically.
Way also pointed out the gains in ELA closing gaps score on the latest report card. Lakeland’s scores (last year’s in parenthesis) and the state averages are listed for each priority area are as follows:
• Student Achievement: LUHS 62.3 (61.3), State Average 59.8. The school edged the state in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics achievements.
• School Growth: LUHS 51.8 (N/A), State Average 66.0. Here, LUHS trailed the state by a wide margin in both ELA and mathematics growth.
• Closing Gaps: LUHS 61.3 (67.1), State Average 67.3. Again, LUHS lagged the state in ELA achievement gaps and graduation rate gaps, but did slightly better in mathematics achievement gaps. This priority area measures how well minority groups do compared with majority groups. LUHS is 72 percent white and 21 percent Native American.
• On-Track and Postsecondary Readiness: LUHS 94.3 (92.3), State Average 90.8. LUHS did substantially better in its graduation rates (including by Native Americans) than the state.
The attendance rate was not listed. For both ELA and mathematics achievements, the state compiles data in four performance levels: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic.
Looking at the 2018-19 Student Achievement’s performance levels in greater detail: English Language Arts (last year’s score in parenthesis): Advance – 8.4 percent (9.2); Proficient – 34.4 percent (38.9); Basic – 28.9 percent (29.9); Below Basic – 28.3 percent (22.1). Mathematics: Advance – 10.3 percent (12.4); Proficient – 24.8 percent (32.0); Basic – 30.8 percent (23.9); Below Basic – 34.1 percent (31.8).
