| By Big Radio News Staff |
State data shows Janesville’s Parker and Craig high schools have fallen to the bottom of the stack of all Rock County high schools when it comes to student achievement.
A deeper dive into state Department of Public Instruction individual school report cards released last month shows Parker High earned a state accountability score of 46.1.
That’s the lowest state score of any non-charter high school in Rock County.
Craig High School’s state DPI score fell off by four percentage points, with an overall score of 53.6. That’s second lowest for public high schools in Rock County.
Both schools are designated by the state as “meeting few expectations.”
By comparison, five out of nine of Rock County’s non-charter public high schools all ranked comparable to each other. Milton, Edgerton, Evansville and Clinton high schools all registered “meets expectations,” with DPI scores in the mid-60s. Parkview High in Orfordville was in the “meets expectations” range with a score of 60.9.
And Beloit Turner’s score of 73 places it in the “exceeds expectations” category.
The scores are based on test score achievement, growth and graduation readiness.
Superintendent Mark Holzman says Janesville’s high proportion of students in poverty tempers how much weight the DPI gives its schools’ annual achievement and academic growth.
Holzman says Janesville schools has a larger enrollment size of more than 9,000 students and more nuanced demographic from school to school compared to school districts in Milton, Edgerton or Evansville – all of which are fraction of the size of Janesville schools.
He cautions against a comparative analysis based on locally adjacent high school because he says each school has a different demographic blend and therefore a different metric used to show achievement and growth gaps or gains.
He says it’s better to compare a given school’s DPI numbers to the school’s earlier track record.
Holzman points out Parker High School showed overall growth of about four points over last year’s DPI score.
However, Craig High School — which historically has a lower poverty index than Parker — slipped six points in its state accountability scorecard compared to last year.
Holzman says a better metric to compare schools would be to compare ACT and other college readiness scores alongside graduation rates.
Holzman says he’s more likely to compare Janesville to other “peer” school districts with larger enrollments, such as Eau Claire.
Here’s some DPI school report card accountability scores from from schools in communities with demographic indexes similar to Janesville:
- Beloit Memorial High School – 55.9 (Meets Few Expectations)
- Eau Claire Memorial High School – 77.8 (Exceeds Expectations)
- Fond Du Lac High School – 61.3 (Meets Expectations)
- Kenosha Bradford High School – 59.8 (Meets Expectations)
- Racine Horlick High School – 54 (Meets Few Expectation
