Board presented info on student performance

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood School Board was presented with information regarding student performance, attendance and graduation rates, among other items during its Dec. 19 meeting.

According to data compiled by district psychologist Kara Muthig, Witt-Birn students are participating in tests at a higher rate than the average for the state. For the Forward test, which is given to 3-8 graders, Wittenberg-Birnamwood participation is at 99.6%, while the state average is at 96.7%. For the Aspire test, which is given to freshmen and sophomores, 98.1% of students participate, while the average is at 86.1% throughout the state. For the ACT, which is given to juniors, 98.5% of students are participating, while on average through Wisconsin, 90.7% of students participate.

“We do have some families that opt out, but for the most part our students are all testing,” said Muthig. “Overall, we do a good job of test participation.”

Muthig moved to the data on graduation rates, which shows that in the 2020-21 school year, 92.9% of seniors graduated, 93.1% in 2019-2020 and 93.3% in 2018-2019. Those numbers are all three percentage points higher than the state average in those respective years.

In regards to the state report Ccard, Wittenberg-Birnamwood score is 67.3, which meets state expectations. The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School has a report card indicating a score of 51.7, which does not.

“When we are setting goals, we want to set attainable goals,” said Muthig. “So, where we are now, what is our goal for next year and then the year after — we are always looking at how we can get better.”

Comparing data from third graders and eighth graders in the same year, Muthig said that scores in English/language arts and math are consistently higher in eighth grade compared to third grade.

“Typically our eighth-graders are doing better than our third-graders, which is a positive,” said Muthig. “We want out third-graders to start out higher, but that is one of the goals that we are continuously working on — is how do we get our third-graders higher? On a positive note, by the time they get to eighth grade, the proficiency goes up, so we are doing some things to make that happen.”

When looking at how the class of 2023 has changed in English, when those students were in third grade 26.9% of students were at or above the state average. That number peaked when the students were in eighth grade at 53.4%. In math, those students in third grade started at 34.2%, peaking at 42% in fifth grade.

“Much of what we are measuring is trending positively with our cohort groups as they move through school,” said Superintendent Garrett Rogowski. “That being said, we recognize that there are gaps and will continue to reinforce different strategies to support student growth, where they exist.”

In regards to how the school district is responding to the data in order to improve student outcomes, Muthig outlined 15 different methods that include meetings, data compilation and support teams. Talking about the professional learning community meetings, Muthig said that every Friday afternoon, teachers work collaboratively to review data and achieve better results.

“That is the purpose of these meetings — student learning: look at your data, what you’re teaching, are the kids performing, are you responding?” said Muthig.

She then explained that student success team meetings are often times held per request from a teacher or parent when a student is not having success in the core curriculum. Muthig added that these are used when teachers use all of their resources to help a student and that student is still struggling. Data including test scores, assignments and attendance, among other data is used in these meetings to determine where the problem is and how it can be fixed.

Another meeting that Muthig covered was an annual data dig, where the administrative team annually meets to review results of state and district-wide assessments.

“Every year when all of the state assessment data comes in, we compile all of the data and look at it as a whole of the school,” said Muthig. “We look at it for groups, so we know where to offer our services. We look at all of that data for all of the state testing. It is probably a whole day at a time.”

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com