Merrill Area Public Schools uses multiple data sources to measure our students’ achievement. From our youngest learners at Pine River School for Young Learners to our seniors at Merrill High School, a variety of measures are used when determining achievement and growth. Formative assessments are used to develop teaching strategies consistently throughout the year. Summative assessment results let us know how well we aligned our strategies to student growth.
On November 12, the embargo was lifted, making each district’s State Report Card results public information.
Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (WI DPI) measures the growth and achievement of every K-12 student in the state annually. The School Report Card contains four priority areas: Student Achievement (English Language Arts and Math Achievement), School Growth (English Language Arts and Math Growth), Closing Gaps (English Language Arts Achievement Gaps, Math Achievement Gaps, Graduation Rate Gaps) and On-Track and Postsecondary Readiness (Graduation Rate, Attendance Rate, 3rd Grade English Language Arts Achievement, 8th Grade Math Achievement).
Each of these priority areas are weighted differently by school based on that school’s performance history.
While somewhat confusing and complicated, an account of each building’s score is provided below. The composite score for the entire district is also provided, as compared to the School Report Card information from the prior year.
All scores are based on a 100 point scale:
Since the Bridges Virtual Academy is our only virtual school in the district, I have shown their scorecard results as they compare with the other K-12 virtual schools in the state.
While I am pleased with our improvements over last year’s results, and the direction we are going, we still have much work to do. We have access to multiple sources of data to be able to efficiently streamline our instructional practices. Our students deserve the very best and that is what we will deliver.
Dr. John Sample
Proud Superintendent