Iola-Scandinavia seeks improvement
By Holly Neumann
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently released School Report Card scores for all publicly funded school and districts within the state.
Iola-Scandinavia High School, which includes grades 7-12, saw an increase in its score from 61.6 in the 2017-18 school year to 64.5 this past year, meeting expectations.
“I was pleased that we have been making improvements in our overall score over that last few years,” said Principal Chris Nelson. “We still have work to do, but we are making positive progress which is always a good thing.”
The priority areas looked at include student achievement, school growth, closing the gaps and on-track and post-secondary readiness.
While student achievement saw a marginal increase from 64.2 to 64.9, on-track and post-secondary readiness dropped from 87.1 to 86.1.
School growth remained the same at 54.7.
Closing the gaps
The biggest change came in closing the gaps, which saw an improvement from 38.6 to 52.3.
However, the high school failed to meet expectations in that category.
The state average in this area is 68.4.
Nelson explained that when diving into the numbers that compare I-S to the state average in “closing the gaps,” they are not comparing the same exact thing.
“Iola-Scandinavia’s number is based 50% on ELA achievement gaps and 50% on mathematics achievement gaps,” he said. “For the state average, the number is calculated 25% ELA achievement gaps, 25% mathematics achievement gaps and 50% graduation rate gaps.”
He said they are always looking to improve academic progress for the students from year to year.
“For the 2019-2020 school year, we have strategies for improvement,” Nelson said. “The board approved a full-time instructional support teacher who will work with both students and teachers.”
Educating beyond core subjects
Nelson said the district educates the whole child.
“This would include the subjects of English, math, social studies, science, career and technical education, physical education, foreign language and the fine arts,” he said. “We also encourage students to participate in extra-curricular activities and student organizations.”
They are working to become a viable Professional Learning Community where teachers collaborate to look at student data to improve instruction and student learning.
“We have invested in an ACT preparation program called Method Test Prep that is available to all students in grades 7-12,” Nelson said. “We will also continue a 13-day standardized test prep program in January/February called J-Term.”
Iola-Scandinavia Elementary School exceeded expectations with a score of 80.7.
“This is an opportunity to reflect on the positives and look at ways to continue to grow and continue to meet the needs of the individual learners,” said Elementary Principal Stacey Wester.
While student achievement remained the same, there was a slight drop in the scores for closing the gaps and on-track and post-secondary readiness.
School growth saw the biggest change with a score of 85.1. compared to 81.2 in 2017-18.
Students, parents contribute to scores
Wester said students and their parents play a key role.
“Students come to school eager to learn, work hard and are willing to do what it takes to grow socially, emotionally and academically,” she said. “Parents are actively involved in the education of their children. They put forth a great deal of effort supporting the students and teachers each and every day.”
That is paired with a building full educators who work to create a classroom environment that is focused on student learning and growth.
“Our entire staff goes above and beyond each and every day to help every child be successful,” she said.
Meeting Expectations
District wide. the school district received a 3-star rating, with a score of 71.1, meeting expectations.
“I am pleased with the results from our school report cards,” said District Administrator Ray Przekurat. “The overall district score went down which shows the complex calculations that go into these scores.”
Przekurat said the scores are weighted by the priority areas.
“Closing gaps and on-track and postsecondary readiness scores remained the same weighting from last year at 25%,” he said. “The student achievement was weighted last year at 22.9% compared to 26.6% this year. The district growth was weighted last year at 27.1 percent compared to 23.4% this year. This weighting of these priority areas reduced our overall district score.”
The district has met or exceeded expectations in many areas but also understands work needs to be done.
“Our strategic plan is focusing on these areas,” Przekurat said.
He said the school report card is a tool to show some of the district’s accomplishments but not all of them.
“This report card only shows a snapshot of some of our tests,” Przekurat said. “I have been part of a state and national discussion on changes to this report card. The Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators has been working on a redefining ready cohort that looks at including other items on our school report card.”
Some of those items include more updated test scores and enrollment of the students in youth apprenticeships and distance learning courses.