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Pewaukee schools report mixed assessment results, administrators cite test timing and targeted growth work
Summary
Principals and administrators told the board about Act 20-driven literacy measures, math CGA results and targeted interventions: early grades posted strong literacy results, middle-school math ranked high statewide, and administrators said STAR has been dropped to reduce testing overlap and fatigue.
District principals presented continuous-improvement reports for multiple schools and answered board questions about assessment strategies and goals.
At Pewaukee Lake Elementary, Brian Siegel said early-literacy measures were strong: 4K rhyme recognition and other measures showed high proficiency, and most K–2 grade levels met at least one literacy goal. He told the board that, while some STAR measures did not meet expectations in spring, the district attributed part of the difference to testing timing and student fatigue from overlapping windows of AIMSweb, running records and STAR. "We have gotten rid of STAR so we are just relying on running records and AIMSweb," Brian said, noting the state sets the AIMSweb window and the district will space other measures to help students perform optimally.
At Horizon and Asa Clark, principals reported targets near 75–76% on composite measures. Horizon noted a rise in third-grade Wisconsin Forward index scores (80.4 → 87.9), and Asa Clark reported 79% of students met two of four math measures while also showing a marked increase for students with IEPs (fall 18% → spring 38%). Asa Clark credited Building Thinking Classrooms strategies and collaborative co-planning for some math gains.
At the high school, administrators reported a significant narrowing of the gap in ACT growth results between regular-education and special-education students and an uptick in AP participation and scores (2025 had the most exams and the highest share scoring 3+ in the five-year snapshot). The high school also reported a 3.1-percentage-point decrease in chronic absenteeism.
Board members pressed for more longitudinal comparables and asked why benchmarks at upper grades were lower than at the elementary level; administrators responded that benchmarks and assessments differ by grade band (elementary uses Wisconsin Forward-based metrics and middle/high school use ACT/preACT comparators) and that the district balances growth goals with benchmark attainment when setting targets.
Administrators said they will continue PLC, UDL and tiered MTSS strategies and plan deeper analysis of how running-record data triangulates with state assessments.
