The latest NAEP numbers also show Wisconsin’s on-going story of a massive gap between black and white students.
Illiteracy rates are on the rise.
Kids in Wisconsin schools continue to do worse on national reading tests, and Milwaukee once again has the worst racial learning gap in America.
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress released the latest Nation’s Report Card on Wednesday. And Wisconsin schools look to have failed once again.
The numbers, which are based on the 2024 tests, show just 31% of fourth graders in the state, and 31% of eighth graders were rated as proficient or better on the report card. That’s down from 33% and 32% back in 2022.
Those reading scores look worse the more you look at them.
Will Flanders, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty’s research director, said Milwaukee’s overall reading scores have fallen almost 20 points since 2017 alone.
“Wisconsin’s fourth grade ELA performance is the lowest that has ever been recorded. This should be a five-alarm fire for the education establishment,” Flanders said on Twitter. “The story of declining proficiency on the NAEP is really a story of the bottom falling out.”
The latest NAEP numbers also show Wisconsin’s on-going story of a massive gap between black and white students.
“Wisconsin continues to have the largest racial achievement gap in the country among states, second only to DC among NAEP areas,” Flanders added.
The report card numbers show black fourth graders across the state scored 45 points lower than white students. It was slightly less worse for black eighth graders. The numbers show they are 39 points behind white eighth graders.
The numbers, however, get even worse when you look at Milwaukee Public Schools.
IN MPS, only 9% of fourth graders and 15% of eighth graders were rated as proficient. That’s a 12% drop for fourth graders since 2022.
“Even though public-school teachers are drowning in DEI training, bias tests, & “How to be an Anti-Racist”-type books, the racial achievement gap is getting WORSE,” WILL’s Dan Lennington added.
Flanders said part of the solution is more school choice for kids in Wisconsin.
“Wisconsin continues to have the largest racial achievement gap of all states. This speaks to the need to continue to increase educational options in areas where students are not being well-served by traditional public schools,” he said.
Wisconsin’s state superintendent, Jill Underly, on Wednesday said her solution is more money.
“The legislature has let public school funding fall behind – we cannot expect to see meaningful improvement for our kids if we continue to invest too little. It’s time to make the right choices for the future of our state, and that starts with fully funding our public schools and giving every child the opportunity to succeed,” Underly said in a statement.
The NAEP scores also brought the focus back to Underly’s decision to change Wisconsin’s test scores.
Flanders was one of many on Wednesday to say the NAEP scores show Wisconsin’s true school performance, while also showing Underly’s new scores are wildly off-base.
“The absurdity of DPI’s changes to Forward Exam proficiency are made clear in comparison to the NAEP–which the Forward used to be tied to. In 4th grade reading, NAEP proficiency was 21% lower than what the Forward Exam showed. DPI’s new standards must be reversed,” Flanders said in a tweet.
