Wisconsin releases third grade reading scores

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released its scores for schools for the third grade reading scores for the 2003-04 school year. A Journal Sentinel article noted that both statewide and for Milwaukee the percentage of students rated proficient had increased. This seems to fit the pattern of progress in the early grades, coupled with stagnation at the high school level.

Schools Now is a strong advocate of measuring student progress. However, there is a tendency to overinterpret the results of a single test, either to declare overall success or to rate schools. We will be returning periodically to the issues of using the results of many tests to get a more complete picture of how well students are learning.