In accordance with the MPS Administrative Policy 2.16, District Accountability System, the Administration presents the Board and the community with its annual Report Card for the 2010-2011 school year. Requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, otherwise known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), stipulate that school districts report two year performance trends of students on statewide assessments in reading and mathematics, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, migrant status, disability status, and English proficiency status. According to NCLB, the graduation rate must be reported for high schools, and another indicator (attendance) must be reported for elementary and middle schools. Additionally, each school’s performance is to be compared with the state’s adequate yearly progress target, and professional qualifications of teachers must be reported.
The 2010-2011 Report Card presents three to five year trends in performance for state and district assessments, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, English proficiency status, and disability status. Graduation, promotion, and attendance rates are reported for applicable grades. Recent guidance from the Department of Education requires districts to present state results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP results for the state of Wisconsin (2010-2011) are also presented. Other data of interest to the community, including GPA, mobility and stability rates, suspension rates, and enrollment information is reported. Results are reported in terms of all students enrolled (instead of only those enrolled for a full academic year) and for all schools serving MPS students. The Report Card also presents the tenth year of value-added analyses of student achievement information to complement the attainment results required under NCLB. These measures level the playing field between schools serving diverse populations of students and help to improve our understanding of schools’ achievement gains over time.
As noted above, NCLB requires that Report Cards also contain information regarding the percent of classes taught by “highly qualified” teachers. The district relies on the Department of Public Instruction’s annual reports to provide this information to the community. Please go to http://www.dpi.state.wi.us for these data. The Milwaukee Public Schools is in the third year of Working Together, Achieving More, an Action Plan to improve Milwaukee Public Schools, 2007-2012. A brief explanation of the strategic plan as well as three pages detailing the key measurable statistics as to progress, are included.