Sheboygan Area School District "meets expectations" on state report card; board hears detailed assessment, college- and career-readiness data

The Sheboygan Area School District Board of Education on Monday received a presentation on the district and school report cards, the state assessment changes and local college- and career-readiness indicators showing steady gains despite recent methodological shifts by the state.

District Superintendent Dr. Jake Conrad told the board the district’s overall report-card score was 61.2 — a “meets expectations” rating — and stressed that the results must be read in context because the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction changed test content, scoring scales and proficiency cut scores this year. “We didn’t just put out that SASD improved advanced and proficiency rates by 15% — everyone’s cut scores changed,” Conrad said in the meeting.

District staff said the district’s four priority-area scores were: 52.9 for achievement, 61.3 for growth, 47.5 for target-group outcomes and 67.4 for on-track-to-graduation. Rachel (district staff) and Kelly (district staff) led the presentation and emphasized that the 2024 administration is a new baseline because of updated test design and scoring, and because state cut scores were lowered by the state superintendent earlier this year.

Why it matters: district leaders warned that the DPI changes make year‑to‑year comparisons problematic and that report-card outcomes closely correlate with economic disadvantage. Staff showed that districts with higher rates of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals tend to score lower on the state report card, and they stressed the need to use local measures in addition to the state report card to track performance and plan improvements.

Key assessment findings presented: - District report-card overall score: 61.2 (meets expectations). Priority-area scores: achievement 52.9; growth 61.3; target-group outcomes 47.5; on-track-to-graduation 67.4. - ACT composite (11th graders): relatively stable year to year; the district’s composite was reported at about 18.6 (slight change from 18.8). - Elementary math proficiency (Forward, grades 3–5): overall 47% meeting/advanced; six elementary schools scored above the state and district averages (Wilson, Jackson, Pigeon River, Lincoln, Eartman and Cleveland were cited in the presentation). - Elementary ELA proficiency: district overall 43.2% meeting/advanced; four schools were above averages (Lincoln, Irving, Wilson and Jackson). - Middle school Forward: math overall 42.5%; ELA overall 40.5%; Lake Country performed above state and district averages in both areas.

College- and career-readiness (local indicators): Kelly said the district uses internal high-school measures in addition to the state report card to capture readiness more fully. Highlights given for the class of 2024 included: - More than 83% of the graduating class met at least one career- or college-readiness indicator used by the district. - Approximately 46% of graduates engaged in workplace-learning experiences. - Nearly 80% of seniors took at least one dual-enrollment (college) course. - About 67% of seniors took advanced standing (AP/dual-credit/college-level) courses.

On ACT benchmarks and interpretation, Kelly clarified that the college-ready figures are strict: a student must meet each subject benchmark (for example, an 18 in English and a 22 in math) to count as “college ready” in that metric. “A student could have a composite score of 26 but not meet every subject benchmark, so they wouldn’t be counted here as college ready,” Kelly said.

Board members pressed staff on comparability with peer districts and asked for clearer messaging for the public. One board member suggested the district add explanatory footnotes on the website to clarify how cut‑score changes affect year‑to‑year comparisons; staff agreed to increase public-facing explanations and to provide more consolidated, school‑by‑school dashboards during the June planning cycle.

Context and next steps: Superintendent Conrad said the district will continue to use multiple local data sources (classroom screenings, internal high-school report cards and college- and career-readiness indicators) to guide school improvement. He also said the district will involve staff, students and the community in planning related to the recently passed referendum projects and will meet with architects weekly to begin project planning.

Ending: Board members thanked the presenters and district staff for the analysis and asked for improved public-facing explanations so families can better understand how the report card and local measures reflect student learning and opportunities.