Sunday, October 14, 2012
ACT is considering an academic assessment for kindergarteners, and Gov. Scott Walker's educational reforms call for mandatory screening of kindergarten students' reading levels.
An entire industry revolves around preparation for, and success in, the ACT and SAT college prepatory exams. High school juniors and seniors, their parents and school districts take results very seriously and trumpet successes, such as Whitefish Bay’s area-leading scores. Beneath those tests is the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, which is administered to students in grades 3-10 in up to five disciplines. But third grade will not be the floor for standardized test in the near future. Gov. Scott Walker’s “Read to Lead” plan would require screening of kindergarten students to determine reading ability, according to the Lacrosse Tribune, though it does not specifically use the words “standardized tests.” The Huffington Post reported in …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Wauwatosa is already in line with proposal that would replace the current high school assessment system with a four-test ACT suite, given to high school students starting in 2014-15.
The Wisconsin Department of Instruction is hoping to usher in a new era of learning and assessment at every high school in the state, and Wauwatosa is on board. State Superintendent Tony Evers on Wednesday announced a proposal to replace the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE) with a suite of ACT assessments to measure student learning and better prepare the state’s youth for post-secondary education careers. Wauwatosa School Superintendent Phil Ertl said, "It's a good thing." "We're close to doing that anyway – 70 percent of juniors are already taking the ACT. It's geared toward college readiness, and that's what we're about, that's where we want our students to be headed," Ertl said. Ertl said the ACT suite is a better …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
While this year's score is just below last year's, over time 2011-2012 scores fell exactly in the statistical middle of the School District's performance since 1996.
While there is some hand-wringing over the fact that statewide average ACT scores dropped this year to their lowest level since 1996, Wauwatosa needn't worry about its place in the pack. Wauwatosa students who took the ACT college admissions test in the 2011-2012 school year once again outpaced state and national average scores, although with a very slight drop from the previous year. With a cumulative score of 23.5 among students from both high schools, Wauwatosa juniors and seniors taking the ACT finished nearly a point and a half higher than the state-reported composite score of 22.1 and well above the nation's average of 21.1. That score is down, though, from the Tosa schools' composite score of 23.7 in 2010-2011. Tested students this …
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Wauwatosa West High School
11400 W Center St, Wauwatosa, WI
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Wauwatosa East High School
7500 Milwaukee Ave, Milwaukee, WI
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Newsweek ranks Wauwatosa East No. 798 in its annual survey, this year expanded to the top 1,000.
Newsweek/The Daily Beast once again has ranked Wauwatosa East as among the best high schools in the nation, naming it No. 798 out of the top 1,000, based on a set of criteria including test scores, graduation rate and number of graduates bound for college. However, before we start the celebration, it should be noted that last year, East came in at No. 358 on a list limited to the top 500 – seemingly falling a precipitous 444 places. But considering that Tosa East did not slip in any statistically significant way in the metrics used in the findings from one year to the next – in fact, it saw a little uptick in its graduation rate and added more AP courses – there must be other reasons for that large drop. Since Newsweek does not readily …
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
More students are encouraged to take college admissions, placement tests every year.
The Wauwatosa School District's average composite ACT score for 2011 was 23.7, exceeding the state average and most other districts in southeastern Wisconsin, data released Wednesday shows. The scores were, however, slightly lower than for 2010, which were the highest at both East and West high schools in the past 15 years. Wauwatosa East High School's composite score this year was 24.2, down from its peak last year at 24.5. West High's score this year was 23.1, down its high last year of 23.6. Part of the reason for the dip, especially at West, may have been because more students took the test, rather than just the highest-performing students. “Our efforts as a district are aimed at ensuring that all of our students are prepared for …
CowDung
9:46 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Interesting, John. I think you just posted a comment that I can agree with... more ›