Beaver Dam Superintendent Weighs In On DPI School Report Cards

11/21/17 – Beaver Dam’s school superintendent says the annual state report cards released Tuesday are an opportunity to make sure district students perform at a high level that is reflective of the education they have received. The Department of Public Instruction report says that 1671 schools met or exceeded expectations in the last school year. Meanwhile, 108 public, charter, and private tax-funded schools failed to meet expectations, a third of those being in Milwaukee. Another 250 met only a few expectations.

In Beaver Dam, the elementary schools fared the best with four of the six “significantly exceeding expectations.”  Wilson Elementary scored an 85.1; Washington received an 86.4; Prairie View was at 87.2 and South Beaver Dam got an 89.3. Jefferson Elementary “exceeded expectations” with a 75.5 while Lincoln reported an 81. “There are several areas that are noteworthy to celebrate,” says Beaver Dam Superintendent Mark DiStefano, “The success of our schools is part of a recipe that reflects who we are. When you take the wonderful students we are blessed to work with, highly talented and motivated staff, as well as a families and a community that is passionately involved and invested in education, good things happen.”

DiStefano says there are pieces of the report card scores to improve upon. The Beaver Dam High School “meets expectations” with a 70.8. The Beaver Dam Middle School fared the worst in the district with a 57.8 resulting in the designation of “meets few expectations.” He says, “as an organization, you want challenges, you need critical feedback and a call to improve brings focus and purpose.” DiStefano says “the report cards are useful but not reflective of all that we do as a school community. We all know that there are things that can’t be quantified. The intangible realities that make us who we are in Beaver Dam are not captured by a series of moment-in-time measures.”

The Beaver Dam School District as a whole was designated as “meeting expectations” with a 64.5 rating on the statewide report card. Also “meeting expectations” were Columbus with a 69.1; Cambria-Friesland logged an 65.4; Dodgeland was at 69.3; Hustisford 70.6; Horicon 71.4; Watertown reported a 69.4; and Waterloo had a 70.8. Schools that “exceeded expectations” include Fall River at 76.3; Lomira with a 76; Mayville with a 75.2; Randolph with 76.4; Waupun at 75.1; The Markesan School District “significantly exceeded expectations” with an 85.6 as did the Rosendale-Brandon District with an 86.8. The press release from the state singled out the Herman-Rubicon-Neosho School District as not being rated because of recent consolidation.

The state notes that a “value added calculation” required by state law caused major fluctuations from last year in the scores for 162 schools and 24 districts. If there’s a change of more than ten points either way, the D-P-I says statistical issues might be to blame, more than a school’s actual performance.

Detailed information on each school and district report card can be found at:

https://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards