SDMA's 2023 State Assessment Report

Statistic Soup

Thank you to Steve Hanson from wis.community for this video. Discussion of the assessment begins at 19:43.

At Monday’s Menomonie Area (SDMA) School Board meeting, results from state standardized testing were shared by Mr. Brian Seguin, Director of Instruction, Assessment & 4K Programming (2nd from right, below.)

Source: screenshot from video

Chart 1. Source: presented report

In Chart 1, “ELA” means English Language Arts and we are comparing test scores of our SDMA 3rd - 8th graders (shown in red) to other local districts and to a state average (in black.) In 2022-23, both Menomonie and the state seem to have less than 40% of students “proficient” in English.

Board Member Dale Dahlke listens intently to Seguin’s report. Source: screenshot from video

It is interesting that the goal in these charts, and spoken of at Monday’s meeting, seems to be “proficiency” in English and math. Below is a chart from last year’s Department of Public Instruction (WI DPI) school district report card. (The ‘22 - ‘23 report cards are due out next month.)

Chart 2. Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

There are four levels on this chart - below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. They could have set “basic” as the goal but did not.

These charts from last year indicate that 27.2% of Menomonie public school students (with all grade levels averaged together) could not do their English assignments at a BASIC level. That’s one in four.

I asked District Administrator Joseph Zydowsky recently about some similar figures I had seen online and whether this meant that a quarter of SDMA students were illiterate. He responded with a quote from Mr. Seguin:

“As you share, on the WI State Assessments for eighth grade given in the spring of 2022, 26.1% of the students achieved at the Below Basic Level for English Language Arts. This does not mean that these students are illiterate (unable to read), rather per the assessment performance level definition for the state assessments, that they have demonstrated minimal understanding of and ability to apply the knowledge and skills for their grade level that are associated with college content-readiness.”

Check my math on the SDMA district-wide English scores for ‘21 - ‘22.

Below basic ability: 27.2% + basic: 34.3% = 61.5% testing below proficiency. 100% - 61.5% = a 38.5% proficiency rate, which looks just like Chart 1, with under 40% proficiency.

Seguin’s statements about the data at Monday’s meeting seemed to indicate that things haven’t changed too much in the last year. There was, however, a concerning drop (plummet) in English Language Arts scores at Menomonie Middle School.

Chart 3. Source: presented report

The bigger picture

Zooming in on the minute ups and downs is just hiding the elephant in the room (although something is obviously happening at the middle school that needs to be dealt with.) Does it really matter whether 38.5 or 38.7% are proficient - or whether we score better than Eau Claire?

These scores are basically PAR for the whole country.

Notice that the SDMA scores line up pretty well with the state average in charts 1 and 3. How are other states doing? About the same. The Nation’s Report Card, State Profiles

Below are some national average statistics from the U.S. Department of Education in their Report on the Condition of Education 2023, pages 20 and 21.

READING

Chart 4. Source: Report on the Condition of Education 2023

Nationally, only 31% of 8th graders were actually proficient in reading.

MATH

8th grade math scores from 2022 tests show only basic ability or below in 73% of students nationwide.

So while the SDMA frets about a point higher or lower and how we compare to other districts, the real problem is the big picture nationally.

I think many citizens would consider only about 30% of students being able to do math and reading proficiently a complete FAILURE to do what we expect school districts to do.

How does the SDMA Board and Administration see it?

“When we talk about student success there is a lot that needs to be considered. This certainly is a very big piece, the raw achievement scores. . . . What we do is a lot more than this.” — Dr. Joseph Zydowsky, District Administrator at video marker 43:28

Mission Statement

OUR MISSION

"The School District of the Menomonie Area, by embracing the unique needs and using the strengths of our diverse community, is dedicated to preparing ALL students to become lifelong learners, caring individuals, and responsible citizens."

So the SDMA mission does not seem to be to actually teach students to do English and math. Let’s check the guiding pillars of the strategic plan.

Source: https://www.sdmaonline.com/district_information/strategic_plan

Maybe math and English are in pillar 1, although it is not clear what the SDMA considers “success.” SEL is pillar 2 (see my last post to learn more about SEL.) Staff is pillar 3 and facilities are pillar 5. Pillar 4 is parents. Parents, do you feel respected and trusted as a partner with the school in regard to your child’s education? Leave a comment and let me know.

The point is that MATH and ENGLISH are not the point!

In my opinion, Menomonie’s public schools need more than a little curriculum tweak.

Getting our test scores up to the pathetic state and national averages, like in the charts above, is not the goal and nothing to celebrate.

What happened?

SEL is what happened (in my opinion)

In this video, Chicago brags about using the Second Step SEL curriculum, which is also used by the SDMA.

How did that work out for Chicago?

Chicago SEL success flier

Referendum on the way

A referendum to maintain basic funding of the school district is in the works.

In my opinion, the SDMA Board and Administration need to take bold, dramatic steps to bring parents back into the picture, to kick out SEL and to stop sexing and gendering-up the students before the community votes them one cent more.