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Iron County

MINER

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Mercer in Top 5 Among K-12 Districts --

Mercer School District Gains Highest Honors in State Report Card

The Mercer K-12 school scored among the highest in the state in the recent release of the 2015-16 District Report Cards, made public last Thursday by the Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction.

The public reports detail student achievement, growth, and progress in meeting academic benchmarks. 

Among K-12 school districts, Mercer ranked fifth in the state in its overall rating, and was among 36 districts which achieved a rating of “Significantly Exceeds Expectations”.  Mercer’s overall score was 88.0. The top 10 K-12 schools in the state: 

School superintendent Erik Torkelson hinted at the excellent ratings at the last Mercer School Board meeting, when he said, “The public will be very pleased with the results.” The DPI’s School Report Cards were embargoed until late last week, when they were made public.

The Hurley School District also performed well, receiving an overall score of 73.6, falling in the “Exceeds Expectations” category.

Area schools, including schools in the Indianhead Athletic Conference, rank as follows:

2015-16 Overall Accountability

K-12 School Districts

(Scoring ratings: 83-100: Significantly Exceeds Expectations; 73-82.9: Exceeds Expectations; 63-72.9: Meets Expectations; 53-62.9: Meets Few Expectations; 0-52.9: Fails to Meet Expectations)

The DPI, in issuing the District Report Cards, states, “These Accountability Report Cards help parents and educators understand how their school is doing, as well as where it can improve to help all children learn, advance to the next grade, and graduate ready for college and career. Our goal is for every student in Wisconsin to succeed, to graduate, and to be ready to pursue further education and a career. The Report Cards are designed to inform parents and the community, and to drive discussion about our children’s learning.”

Eighty-two percent of schools in Wisconsin met or exceeded state expectations for performance. 

The Overall Score is based on a 100-point scale, and is calculated through a weighted average of four

categories (student achievement, student growth, closing gaps, and on-track and postsecondary readiness), with scores weighted to reflect a greater emphasis on student growth in high-poverty districts, and a greater emphasis on student achievement in more affluent districts.

The Mercer School District shows 55.1% of students to be economically disadvantaged; Hurley has 49.0%. 

Five schools statewide including Bayfield, failed to meet expectations. Other failing schools were Cambria-Friesland, Racine, Menominee Indian, and Cassville. Schools in this category for two years in a row face state sanctions. The DPI did not release the public report cards last year, due to an overhaul in the state’s testing system.

The Report Cards were discussed at Monday’s school board meeting in Hurley, with school principals Melissa Oja and Kevin Genisot breaking the results down into the elementary grades and middle school/high school level. The Hurley elementary grades scored 79.8 (Exceeds Expectations), while the middle/high school scored 71.7 (Meets Expectations). 

Oja also presented the ACT scores for Hurley, which showed an increase in the past year, with a 2015-16 score of 19.4, compared to the 2014-15 score of 17.9. The state average for 2015-16 is 20.1.

Area schools struggled to meet the statewide average for the ACT (20.1), with only Northland Pines of Eagle River above the state average. Regional school district ACT scores are noted as follows:

2015-16 ACT Composit Scores

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The December School Board Meeting

will be held on Monday, January 28 at 5pm 

in the Mercer School Library.

Click Here to Get to:                         Students:  Click Here to Get to Career Cruising

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