The Rice Lake Area School District board spent a substantial portion of its Nov. 24 meeting reviewing the Department of Public Instruction’s newly issued school and district report cards, with a DPI presenter saying, “We are rated at the same level as we were last year meeting expectations with an overall score of 64.” Board members sought explanations of how the composite score is calculated and how the district can use the data to target improvements.

The presentation explained that the report-card score is made up of four priority areas — achievement, growth, target-group outcomes and on-track-to-graduation — and that weighting shifts according to the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. The presenter noted the district’s economically disadvantaged percentage at 42.3%, which increases the weight given to growth. The district’s overall score remained at a level described as “meeting expectations,” and each school’s rating was unchanged from the previous year; Haugen Elementary was identified as “exceeding expectations,” while the high school was 0.6 points short of meeting expectations.

Board members repeatedly asked how small changes in test scores translate into the growth component and whether the standard-setting and weighting are transparent enough. One board member said the formula includes an unexplained constant, characterizing it as arbitrary and hard to interpret: “that 6 66 number that they had in the whole equation…there’s nothing that points to what that really means, what that number comes from,” a concern raised during discussion.

The board also discussed the ‘on-track-to-graduation’ measures, which include graduation rate, chronic absenteeism and early indicators such as third-grade ELA and eighth-grade math. The presenter noted chronic absenteeism improved this year (the district’s chronic absenteeism score rose by 6.4 points) and the graduation rate rose by 0.4 points. Board members emphasized that some indicators lag a year and that the district will continue to monitor progress, especially for subgroups and target groups identified in the report card.

High school staff described the district’s current efforts to expand industry-recognized credentials, which appear on the report card as a small percentage for the high school. Assistant principal Mark Bice noted that some credentials (for example, CAD/SolidWorks certifications and Microsoft course credentials) are already offered and cited prior partnerships with Northwoods Tech and other local providers; the board discussed convening local businesses and technical schools to define credentialing pathways that meet DPI definitions.

Board members asked staff to bring follow-up materials that map specific programs and credentials to the DPI definition and to identify realistic steps the district can take to increase credentialing opportunities for students. The board did not take any policy votes on the report card at the meeting; staff said they will use the DPI data to guide curriculum and intervention planning and return with further details.

What’s next: staff will provide additional background on the DPI weighting and a plan for expanding industry-recognized credential opportunities and interventions targeted at groups identified in the report cards.