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Wauwatosa officials report gains in AP and dual‑enrollment but underline persistent achievement gaps
Summary
At the Sept. 22 board meeting district leaders presented a 389‑page summary showing increased AP participation and pass rates and a jump in dual‑enrollment (191 students, 99% earning credit) while warning of ongoing disproportionality for students of color and students who receive free/reduced lunch.
Dr. Marmol presented the district’s annual student achievement report at the Sept. 22 Wauwatosa School District board meeting, saying the district recorded higher AP participation and its best AP pass rates in six years and a large increase in dual‑enrollment participation.
The presentation, supported by a one‑page summary and a linked 389‑page data packet, showed Wauwatosa West reported 143 students across AP Scholar categories and Wauwatosa East reported 151. The district also reported 12 AP Capstone or seminar awards at West and 17 at East. Dr. Marmol said the district’s percentage of students meeting targeted reading growth (measured by STAR) was the highest in three years and that the share of students taking an AP course is the highest since before the COVID‑19 pandemic.
The report highlighted a large rise in dual‑enrollment: 34 students in 2022–23 grew to 191 in 2024–25 after college credit courses were made available on high school campuses; 99% of those 191 students earned college credit. District staff attributed the increase to on‑campus availability and noted that teacher credentialing requirements constrain the expansion of additional dual‑credit subjects.
At the same time staff flagged persistent gaps. The presentation noted that students of color were roughly twice as likely not to meet ACT benchmarks and more likely to be at risk of not being proficient readers. Students receiving free or reduced lunch were cited as being multiple times more likely to receive multiple failing grades. Jennifer Foch (Director of Strategy and Continuous Improvement) reported that tier‑3 intervention exit rates have hovered between about 23% and 34% depending on cycle and set the district goal this year of at least a 30% exit rate for intervention cycles.
Board members asked how the district selected benchmark districts and whether grade distributions show a bifurcation (many high grades vs. many low grades). Staff said benchmark peers were chosen for academic and conference alignment, and emphasized curriculum coherence, daily access to grade‑level instruction and a strengthened multi‑tiered system of supports (tier 1 instruction, targeted tier 2, and tier 3 interventions) as primary levers to reduce gaps.
Staff also described a small, five‑day pilot at Eisenhower, Madison and Wilson to increase teacher awareness of on‑task behavior and to measure whether heightened monitoring improves outcomes; the pilot is new and staff said the district will track results over time.
The district will publish public data later this week, and board members said they will continue to press for strategies to reduce disproportionality while sustaining gains among high‑achieving subgroups.
