School District of Janesville: Annual test scores generally good

JANESVILLE — The Janesville School District acknowledged Tuesday there is room for improvement, but said it’s pleased with student ACT scores as statewide 2023-24 assessment results were released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction.

The DPI on Tuesday released the results of the Wisconsin Forward and ACT exams for 2023-24 and the results of Dynamic Learning Maps testing that is given across all tested grades to students with significant cognitive disabilities.

The Forward Exam is given to grades 3-8 and 10. The PreACT Secure is given to grades 9 and 10. The ACT with writing is given to grade 11.

Results from the assessments figure into district report cards, which are issued in November.

Janesville was generally at or near the state average for various parts of all of the tests.

ACT

There were some small discrepancies between the 2023-24 state and local scores, as reported by the DPI and the School District of Janesville.

According to the school district, Janesville students earned an overall composite score on the ACT of 17.8, the same as 2022-23. The DPI website reported 17.6 for 2023-24.

According to the DPI, as posted on its website, the statewide composite score average was 19.2.

According to data posted on the DPI website, 27.3% of Janesville students statewide met expectations in the English Language Arts portion of ACT, significantly lower than the 41.8% who met expectation statewide. In Janesville, 70% of students failed to meet expectations on the English Language Arts portion of ACT. Not all Janesville 11th graders took the test.

“While we are pleased that our students’ scores on the ACT remain steady, our goal is to see improvement in the composite score,” Janesville Director of Secondary Education Chris Medenwaldt said. “These types of assessments help us create plans for growth and improvement, and to modify strategies that focus on curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices geared toward the college and career readiness skills for students.”

Forward Exam

Janesville students scored about average on the English Language Arts portion of the Forward Exam, with 49.9% meeting expectations compared to the state average of 51.5%.

In Janesville, 49.3% of students failed to meet expectations on the English Language Arts portion of the Forward Exam, compared to the state average of 46.1%. Statewide, 2.8% of students didn’t take the Forward Exam, compared to 1.3% in Janesville.

In math, 51.3% of Janesville students met expectations on the Forward Exam, and 47.8% did not meet expectations. Across the state, 53.1% met expectations and 44.6% didn’t meet expectations.

In science, 48.8% of Janesville students met expectations on the Forward Exam, slightly lower than the state average of 49.8%. In Janesville, 50.4%, failed to meet expectations in science, compared to the statewide average of 47.4%.

In social studies, 48.8% of Janesville students met expectations on the Forward Exam, compared to the state average of 53.4%. In Janesville, 49.2% didn’t meet expectations in social studies, compared to the state average of 41.7%.

The annual assessments gauge students’ progress in relation to Wisconsin academic standards. The standards, according to a School District of Janesville release, lay out what students should know and be able to do in order to be college and career-ready. The district uses assessment scores to develop improvement plans, Director of Learning and Innovation Allison DeGraaf said.

“We are pleased to see student growth on these tests but are always looking for ways to improve student outcomes. We use data from the WSAS to identify strangths, as well as areas of growth to enhance instruction and improve outcomes for all students,” the release said.

State Superintendent Jill Underly said in a release Tuesday that she is proud of the work state educators did to “align our test with Wisconsin’s academic standards.”

“This work has led to results that will be easier for families to understand and provide them with a much better reflection of what our students should know, and how they are performing at each grade,” Underly said.

According to the release, statewide participation in the Forward Exam went up in public schools with 95.4% of eligible students being tested in 2023-24. Choice student participation went down in that same time. Only 79.7% of eligible Choice students were tested.