Awards & Recognitions

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>> OASD Continues to Exceed Expectations on 2020-2021 State Report Cards
>> OASD Students Make Gains on WI Forward Exams
>> OASD Schools All Honored by 2020-2021 State-Recognized Schools Program

 

OASD Continues to exceed Expectations on State Report Cards

OASD Report Card Graphic

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released its new State Report Cards today. This is the first release of the State Report Cards since the 2018-19 school year because of the suspension of state testing and subsequent data reporting during the pandemic.

The Oconomowoc Area School District (OASD) has increased ratings on the State Report card every year for the last five years and continued that success in the 2020-2021 school year. This yearly increase keeps us on track to accomplish our strategic plan objective of reaching the Significantly Exceeds Expectations, 5-star ranking, on the State Report Cards by 2024.

OASD State Report Card Highlights:

  • OASD Exceeded Expectations (4-stars) and improved its Overall Accountability Score for the third consecutive report card.
  • Oconomowoc High School (OHS) achieved 5-star status and Significantly Exceeds Expectations.
  • OHS went from 3-stars in 2017-18 to the current 5-star status in three years.
  • OASD Intermediate Schools both achieved 4-star status and Exceeds Expectations.
  • Meadow View Elementary School made significant gains on the 2020-2021 report card and ranks among the top 5% of all Wisconsin elementary schools in academic growth.
  • All OASD schools achieved 4-star or 5-star ranking.
  • OASD is one of only two 4K-12 districts (Oconomowoc and Pewaukee) in Waukesha County to increase their report card ranking each year since 2017-18.
  • OASD is one of only four 4K-12 districts (Oconomowoc, Kettle Moraine, Muskego, and Pewaukee) in Waukesha County that experienced an increase in ranking from 2018-19 to 2020-21.  All other Waukesha County 4K-12 districts saw a decrease within that time.

 

The 5-star ranking for Oconomowoc High School is further confirmation that OHS is fulfilling its mission to prepare students for a career, college, or other life goals after graduation.  “Words cannot express how proud I am of our students and staff for earning our first ever 5-star ranking! This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our talented staff, the commitment and engagement of our Raccoons, and the unwavering support and encouragement we receive from our families and community partners,” said Oconomowoc High School Principal, Jason Curtis.

“Over the last few years, we have been on an incredible journey together as we work to define our vision of career, college, and life readiness. While we still have plenty of work to do, this ranking affirms that we are heading in the right direction as we continue to build a one-of-a-kind experience for each student at Oconomowoc High School!” he added.

The continuous success of the Oconomowoc Area School District is a testament to our families, students, and staff, that the pathway to success outlined in our 2019-2024 Strategic Plan is moving our district and schools towards our goal of becoming an unrivaled learning community.

“These school report cards, while only one measure of the great things happening in the OASD, demonstrate our resilience and perseverance to succeed and our commitment to provide the best academic achievement opportunities and outcomes for our community's children.  I am very proud of the hard work all of our students and staff have done and continue to do,” said OASD Superintendent, Kristen Taylor.

 

OASD State Report Card Score Comparison

OASD State Report Card Score Comparison Chart

Changes to the DPI Report Card

The DPI revised the Report Card structure during the 2019-2020 school year while state testing was affected by the pandemic school closures.  The most notable change affecting some of our OASD schools is the switch from the “Closing Gaps” priority to the “Target Group Outcomes” priority. 

The previous “Closing Gaps” priority was focused on closing achievement gaps, an area Ixonia Elementary School worked especially hard to accomplish and excelled at.  The shift to “Target Group Outcomes” still partially measures a school’s ability to close achievement gaps, but also measures growth, attendance rates, and graduation rate.  The “Target Group Outcomes” area also focuses on the students in the bottom 25% of performance in the previous school year’s assessment results. Since state testing at the elementary level didn’t occur in the 2019-20 school year, the “Target Group Outcomes” area is blank in our elementary school report cards.  The Target Groups will be identified by the DPI based on the 2020-2021 assessment results and will appear on the 2021-2022 report cards.

Complete 2021-2022 REPORT CARDS:

 

Learn more about the State Report Cards at https://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards.

OASD Students Make Gains on The Wisconsin Forward Exam

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released results from the Wisconsin Student Assessment System exams given to students during the spring of the 2020-21 school year.  The spring 2021 exams marked the first in-person state testing in the Forward Exam and ACT Aspire exams since the 2018-19 school year.

OASD Forward Exam Results

The Forward Exam is administered in different content areas based on a student’s age.  Oconomowoc Area School District (OASD) students took the following exams:

  • Grades 3-8: Forward Exams in English language arts and mathematics
  • Grades 4 and 8: Additional Forward Exam in science
  • Grades 4, 8, and 10: Additional Forward Exam in social studies

We are happy to share that OASD students made gains in the Forward Exam when compared to 2018-19 results:

  • OASD English language arts (ELA) scores increased .3%
  • OASD math scores increased .5%
  • The largest OASD gains were seen in 8th grade, where ELA scores increased 5.5% and math scores increased 3.1%
  • These gains are especially noteworthy when compared to the overall decreases experienced at the state level
Forward Exam Math Gaines Chart  Forward Exam ELA Gaines Chart

The OASD Director of Research, Evaluation, and Accountability, Dr. Derick Kiger, attributes the Forward Exam gains, in part, to the roadmap provided by the district strategic plan, saying, “The OASD continued to follow its strategic plan throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped maintain a systemwide focus on improving student achievement and other key performance objectives.  For example, we identified ELA as a growth opportunity at the intermediate grade levels and supported the efforts of our staff to improve student proficiency in that area.”

OASD Director of Curriculum and Instruction, John Flannery echoed those sentiments, saying, “I’m proud of the efforts of our students, teachers, principals, support staff, and families over the past two years, as they deserve so much credit for these positive results.”

“We felt strongly that our district’s instructional plan during the pandemic maintained the best possible balance of managing daily operations with a responsibility of increasing student achievement,” he added.

There are many factors that affect student testing results.  We believe the ability of our students and staff to make gains during a pandemic was the result of:

  • The district strategic plan and our work around specific ELA and math proficiency.
  • The partnership between our students, staff, and district families to keep our students on track with their learning throughout the changing environment of the pandemic.
  • The creation of our fully virtual learning environment, the Ocon Virtual Learning Community (OVLC) during the 2020-2021 school year.  The OVLC was led by OASD teachers whose teaching was dedicated to the students in OVLC; they were not split between OVLC and classroom instruction.
  • The virtual learning management systems used by teachers in 4K-grade 12, which helped students stay on track and engaged in their schoolwork If they were out sick or in temporary quarantine.

 

Medallion

OASD SCHOOLS ALL HONORED BY 2020-21 STATE-RECOGNIZED SCHOOLS PROGRAM

The Oconomowoc Area School District is proud to announce that the Wisconsin Response to Intervention Center (Rtl) and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recognized all eight OASD schools for their work to implement a school-wide, multi-level system of supports for students; all aimed at closing achievement gaps and helping improve student outcomes.

The Wisconsin Rtl Center’s Recognized Schools program encourages schools to expand, refine, and sustain the implementation of an equitable, multi-level system of supports for students.  These supports are personalized for students and can include academic, developmental, behavioral, and social-emotional supports.  In the OASD, it means that our schools and staff are focused on continually monitoring, refining, and improving the success of each student using the tools that work best for that student; with the final goal of helping students prepare for their pathway after graduation.

The Wisconsin RtI Center focuses on three content areas for the Recognized Schools Program: Behavior, Mathematics, and Reading.  Schools receive recognition at four different levels, and that recognition is determined based on three tiers that offer deeper challenge and implementation requirements until schools reach the top tier and recognition level.

We’re proud to share that our OASD schools achieved the following levels of recognition:

  • Greenland Elementary School achieved the bronze level in reading and silver level in behavior.
  • Ixonia Elementary School achieved the gold level in reading, math, and behavior.  Ixonia is one of less than 30 elementary schools in the state of Wisconsin to achieve the gold level in all three content areas.
  • Meadow View Elementary School achieved the gold level in reading and behavior.
  • Park Lawn Elementary School achieved the bronze level in reading, math, and behavior.
  • Summit Elementary School achieved the bronze level in behavior and silver level in reading.
  • Nature Hill Intermediate School achieved the bronze level in reading and math.
  • Silver Lake Intermediate School achieved the bronze level in reading.
  • Oconomowoc High School achieved the silver level in behavior.

 

Ixonia Elementary School was one of only 30 schools in the state to earn the gold-level in all three content areas.  Ixonia Elementary Principal, Stacy Yearling, described this accomplishment by saying, “Public Schools in Wisconsin are encouraged to develop systems that meet the needs of all students in equitable, culturally responsive ways to increase achievement and close learning gaps. Our work at Ixonia is about continuously reflecting and refining our practices to meet the ever-changing needs of Ixonia students. When a school achieves the level of Gold-Level status by the Wisconsin RtI Center and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, it acknowledges the refined work in reading, math, and behavioral practices for at least two years, with evidence of deeper implementation.” 

Yearling went on to share, “Our staff at Ixonia works very collaboratively to continuously analyze student data, discuss our practices, seek feedback from each other, and make necessary adjustments to better the outcomes of our students.  In the state of Wisconsin, only 36 schools earned a Gold-Level status in all three areas, as Ixonia Elementary did this year.  We are very proud of this acknowledgement as it is validation to our commitment to provide the best education to Ixonia students as we can.”

 

Recognized Schools Program – Recognition Levels

  • Bronze: At full implementation/fidelity in one content area at the universal level (tier 1) for at least one year.
  • Silver: At full implementation/fidelity in one content area at the universal level (tier 1) for at least two years and at selected (tier 2) level for at least one year.
  • Gold: At full implementation/fidelity in two content areas at the universal (tier 1) and selected (tier 2) levels for at least two years.
  • Platinum: At full implementation/fidelity in all three content areas, at all three levels (universal, selected, and intensive), and for at least three years.

 

Recognized Schools Program – Tiers

  • Tier 1: At the universal level of support, tier 1, schools provide high quality instruction, collaboration, and the strategic use of data for all students in the school.
  • Tier 2: At the selected level, tier 2, schools provide supports for students whose developmental, academic, behavioral, social, or emotional needs extend just beyond the reach of the universal, or tier 1, level. This level is intended for short-term intervention targeting the specific skill needs of students so the universal level of support can meet their educational needs.
  • Tier 3: At the intensive level, tier 3, schools provide supports for students whose needs extend well beyond the reach of the universal, or tier 1, level.

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About the Wisconsin RtI Center

The Wisconsin Response to Intervention (RtI) Center was created to assist Wisconsin’s educational systems to build capacity, adopt and implement high-quality practices, make informed decisions, ensure sustainability of efforts, and increase success for all students.  To learn more about the Wisconsin RtI Center’s Recognized Schools Program, visit www.wisconsinrticenter.org.  To learn more about the 2020-21 Recognized Schools program recipients, visit the Successful Schools page of the Wisconsin RtI center website.

915 E. Summit Avenue
Oconomowoc, WI 53066
262-560-1115
Nondiscrimination: The Oconomowoc Area School District provides assurance that no student is discriminated against because of the student's sex, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability.
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