School District ranked eighth in state

By MITCH MAERSCH

Ozaukee Press staff

If the Cedar Grove-Belgium School District was a student, it would be running to show its parents its grades.

The district received an 84.5 — in the significantly exceeds expectations category — on its recently released school report card from the Department of Public Instruction.

That ranks eighth among 368 K-12 districts in the state.

Each of the three schools also scored in the significantly exceeds expectations category.

The high school scored 85.2, the elementary school scored 84 and the middle school scored 83.9.

“This is a tribute to the hard work and dedication that each and every one of you gives to our students and families each and every day,” Supt. Chad Brakke said in an email to staff members.

“The school report card system has flaws and is only one indicator of success, but it is the system upon how schools are judged by the State of Wisconsin. This is worthy of recognition and celebration.”

The report card measures four “priority area scores” of achievement, growth, target group outcomes and on-track to graduation.

The district received a 77.5 in achievement, which is in the top 7.9% of districts across the state. The score is a multi-year average of summarizes how students performed on state assessments in English language arts and math. The district got a 79.4 on math and 75.5 on English language arts.

The district scored 89.7 on growth, which is in the top 2.3% of districts across the state. The score is determined by year-to-year student progress on statewide tests, using a value-added model to try to account for circumstances outside educators’ control.

Cedar Grove-Belgium got an 86.1 on target group outcomes, which is in the top 2.3% in the state. The score combines achievement, growth, chronic absenteeism and attendance or graduation rate among students with the lowest test scores.

The district got 90.7 in on-track to graduation, which is in the top 14% in the state. The score combines student engagement and achievement to indicate how successful students are in progressing toward graduation.

Cedar Grove-Belgium was the second-highest ranking district in the Big East Conference. Kohler was second with 91.1. Oostburg tied for 10th with Kettle Moraine at 84.

To see the district and schools’ report cards in detail, visit apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/home.