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Cadott board raises concerns over changing DPI cut scores and inconsistent portal reports
Summary
District staff told the Cadott Community School District board that state report-card numbers and cut-score calculations can differ between the public portal and administrators’ portal, complicating year-to-year comparisons and public presentation of achievement data.
District administrators told the Cadott Community School District board that numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction appear differently depending on which portal staff consult, and that year-to-year comparisons can be misleading when cut scores and included subjects change.
The board heard a detailed presentation from district staff who said they met with Director of Learning Mr. Ludy and Tom McCarthy from the Department of Public Instruction to review apparent discrepancies. “I think it’s all political,” one administrator said, arguing that changes to cut scores and the portal’s participation flags can make declines or gains look different depending on where someone looks. “It’s not apples for apples,” the administrator added.
Why it matters: parents, prospective families and staff often use DPI report-card numbers when choosing schools and assessing district performance. Staff said inconsistent presentation of data can cause reputational harm, raise questions among teachers and complicate internal planning.
District staff described three sources of variation: (1) the public-facing portal can show different percentages than the secure administrator portal; (2) which subjects are included (for example, science was flagged in one release) changes composite calculations; and (3) early “first look” releases do not yet include students who make up missing data until final releases. That timing, staff said, can shift percentages by “two or three percentage points” or more in small categories.
“We’ve spent a lot of time going through this,” the administrator said, noting the district’s practice of tracking multi-year trends and comparing to CESA and state averages rather than a single cut-score snapshot. Staff said they will address the issues in an upcoming administrator letter and provide the board with screenshots and a consistent source file showing how the district arrived at published percentages.
Board members asked for clarity on presentation timing and asked staff to provide guidance the next time the state posts preliminary data. Staff said they will continue to use multiple measures of growth and report both the district’s internal tracking and the DPI figures so the public can see context.
