Milwaukee Public Schools is meeting “few expectations” of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, according to the newest state report card. Still, there are bright spots throughout the district.
Last month, the DPI released its annual state report card, which it produces for every publicly funded school system in the state.
MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said stronger literacy is key to growing student performance in all aspects of students’ education, something she hopes to address with the district’s new literacy plan.
“We need to grow more and faster to truly meet and exceed the expectations that our families and community have for us — and the expectations we have for each other as educators. Our new Literacy Plan is the first step toward stronger growth,” Cassellius said.
Here are the schools that showed the greatest achievement growth and overall scores during the most recent state report card.
Overall scores
Six of the top 10 schools with the highest overall scores are charter schools within MPS. Three Milwaukee College Prep campuses are on the list, along with the Carmen High School of Science and Technology South Campus.
Overall scores are the scores the DPI gives to each school based on achievement, growth, target group outcomes and the rate of students on track to graduate.
DPI weighs growth and achievement differently for each school depending on the percentage of economically disadvantaged students.
For example, Hampton School’s growth rate accounts for over half of its overall score, and 93.3% of students are economically disadvantaged. At Fernwood Montessori School, where 20.5% of students are economically disadvantaged, growth only accounts for 15.3% of its score, with the remaining score calculated by other factors like achievement.
Achievement
This year, the DPI calculated achievement scores by using English and math scores from the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years.
Among the top 10 achievement scores are six elementary schools, one – Golda Meir School – serving grades three to 12 ; a charter school serving grades kindergarten to 12 – the Hmong American Peace Academy; and two other charter schools.
Only one middle school, Wedgewood Park International School, had an achievement score higher than the overall district achievement score.
The graph below breaks down the top achievement scores among the high, middle and elementary schools as well as the top achievement scores overall.
Growth
DPI scores growth by looking at students’ demographic factors and how they compared this year versus last year in relation to other students across the state.
For example, if Black students’ scores at one school grew quicker than the state average of Black student growth, this would increase a school’s growth score.
Unlike achievement scores, growth scores compare test results with the average growth for similar students across the state. So, a school’s overall achievement score increasing or decreasing doesn’t necessarily mean the growth score will follow suit.
Elementary school top growth map
High school top growth map
Attendance rates
DPI measures attendance rates by calculating the total days students actually attended school and dividing it by the total days students are expected to attend school.
Eight charter and non-charter MPS schools have attendance rates above the state attendance rate, with Whittier School coming out on top with a 96.4% rate.
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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