September 3, 2019

As the school year begins, it’s time to measure how Wisconsin students and our schools are performing. MacIver’s annual state of K-12 education report finds slight improvements in some areas, but our toughest problems persist.

89.6 percent graduated high school on time, up a hair from last year. But on-time graduation rates for black students stood at 69 percent—the achievement gap persists.

The standardized Forward exam showed an abysmal 42.4 percent of students proficient in English, and just 43.8 percent proficient in math.

A bright spot for Wisconsin students continues to be AP exams. Total exams taken is up 2.5 percent, while the number of passing scores increased. That’s good.

But the average ACT score dropped from 20 to 19.8.

There are some bright spots, but far too little progress on stubborn problems. We must do better.