Results in from standardized assessments by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released the results from the 2023 to 2024 school standardized assessments on October 8th.

The results according to the WDP show that of Wisconsin students in both Private School Choice Programs and Public Instruction students, about half are considered proficient in English language arts and mathematics.

These results come after revisions to the test design and scale, so the results can’t be directly compared to prior years.

A notable gap in scores between Private School Choice Programs and Public Instruction students. Public school student proficiency rates in English language arts and mathematics tested at about 48 percent and 49 percent, while Private School Choice Program students tested at proficiency rates of about 30 percent and 28 percent.

The gap could be due to participation rates, with 95 percent of Public Instruction students testing and only 79 percent of Private School Choice Program students testing.

The gap could also be due to economic factors.

“A big factor for lower performance for choice schools is participation. When we calculate we include the non-participants in the overall performance rate. Another factor is a majority of the choice program students are economically disadvantaged students, ” said Duane Dorn Education Consultant at the DPI. “Students who are at an economic disadvantage are not performing as well as students who are not at the same level of economic hardship.”

You can learn more on the DPI here.