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Northland Pines presents state and local report cards; district cites 99% graduation rate
Summary
Director of teaching and learning Sue McKay told the board Dec. 16 that statewide assessment changes mean composite scores can’t be compared year to year; she reported district achievement and growth metrics and highlighted a 99% graduation rate and local report‑card indicators such as community service and dual credits.
At the Dec. 16 meeting the Northland Pines district presented its state and local school report cards and explained why this year’s composite scores are not directly comparable to prior years because of assessment revisions and changed cut scores.
Sue McKay, director of teaching and learning, explained that the Forward Exam, the preACT Secure and the ACT underwent updates to better align with Wisconsin’s ELA and math standards. She said the changes required revisions to cut scores and performance descriptors, and that those technical changes make direct year‑to‑year comparisons misleading.
McKay reported the district’s priority‑area scores and supporting indicators: an achievement score she listed as 60.9 and a growth score of 64.1 (down from 67 last year). She emphasized that a three‑year weighted average informs the composite and noted the district’s graduation rate—reported to the board as 99%—is above the state average.
The presentation also highlighted local report‑card measures not on the state document, including dual credits (saving students roughly $100,000 in tuition), approximately 9,500 hours of community service by grades 7–12, robust elementary art and music minutes, and two outdoor forest classrooms (about 138 acres) used in curriculum.
McKay encouraged the community to review the full state and local report cards on the district website for detailed methodology and school‑level data.
She framed the results as part of a continuous‑improvement process: the district will keep using multiple data sources (STAR, local indicators and state assessments) to guide instruction and programming.
