Wisconsin's DPI Fails. Surprised?

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, owned and operated by WEAC and other Educationalistas, is now, officially, an embarassment.

In 2004-'05, the state Department of Public Instruction said 83% of Wisconsin fourth-graders were proficient or better in reading. The federal report says that, by the standard used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the figure for the state would have been 33%.

The contrast was just about the same when it came to eighth-grade reading, and there also were sharp differences between the Wisconsin and national standards in fourth- and eighth-grade math. Although the figures used in the report are from two years ago, there have been no major changes in state or national testing since then, and the conclusions almost certainly are unchanged now.

Why? Simple.

...standards are being held down, or even lowered, to help states escape the impact of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

...which law would allow children to flee the under-performing schools, and require school districts to crack down, hard, on schools which are not cutting the mustard.

How bad IS Wisconsin?

Wisconsin was in the bottom third, with a score that was well in the range considered by the national assessment to show minimal proficiency.

It's hard to spin that result.