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For Immediate Release October 17, 2022 Contact: Nicholas Kelly Newly released data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction show that students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs continue to outperform those in traditional schools. “These results explain year-after-year growth in the numbers of families enrolling their children in the state’s choice programs,” said Nic Kelly, School Choice Wisconsin president. As previously reported, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam. See School Choice Wisconsin’s release here. DPI also has released data on the state’s Forward and ACT Aspire exams. The Forward Exam…
Read MoreMPCP ELA Proficient & Advanced Choice +/- MPCP 3rd Grade 12% MPS 3rd Grade – Low 8% 4% MPS 3rd Grade – Full 11% 1% MPCP 4th Grade 17% MPS 4th Grade – Low 10% 7% MPS 4th Grade – Full 14% 3% MPCP 5th Grade 17% MPS 5th Grade – Low 10% 7% MPS 5th Grade – Full 14% 3% MPCP 6th Grade 22% MPS 6th Grade – Low 11% 11% MPS 6th Grade – Full 15% 7% MPCP 7th Grade 22%…
Read MoreIt’s been a good news Friday for choice. The latest: Waukesha-based Open Sky Education is now a semifinalist for the annual $1 million Yass Prize. Congratulations! The Yass Prize is a competition overseen by the Center for Education Reform spotlighting education providers who aspire to deliver education that is Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless (STOP). As a semifinalist of the Yass Prize, Open Sky Education will receive a $200,000 award and will take part in a four-week hybrid accelerator program, in addition to earning a chance to compete for the grand prize. The money awarded to Open Sky will fund…
Read MoreGood news! Choice is growing in Wisconsin! According to numbers released today by the state Department of Public Instruction: • The state’s four private school parental choice programs reported a headcount of 52,189. This was an increase of 6.7 percent over 2021. 4K headcount in the private school parental choice programs increased by 8.5 percent, kindergarten increased by 5.1 percent and grades 1-12 were up by 6.8 percent. • Independent charter schools reported a headcount of 11,150, an increase of 4.5 percent from September 2021. • Wisconsin’s total school district headcount was 807,657, a decline of 0.85 percent from September…
Read More♦ Life Happens: A ChoiceWords series ♦ The state needs to add additional enrollment periods for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. The state should also end the program’s grade-level entry points, which can prevent families from accessing the program for years. This is the third installment in a periodic ChoiceWords series. This time we stop in Wisconsin Rapids. Rough-edged challenges hit families across Wisconsin Rapids when the town’s Verso paper mill shut down in 2020, Assumption Catholic Schools President Dan Minter told ChoiceWords in a recent chat “I don’t care what town you’re in, but anytime a major employer closes down, it…
Read MoreOpen Sky Education, of Waukesha, and its newest division Soaring Education Services will go on to the next phase of the Yass Competition. Congratulations! The $1 million Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless (STOP) education is powered by the D.C.-based Center for Education Reform in partnership with Forbes. Open Sky and 63 other quarterfinalists were announced this week at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Detroit. The Center for Education Reform will announce the semifinalists of this year’s Yass Prize on Oct. 13. The winner will be announced on December 14 at Forbes on Fifth, in Manhattan. Soaring…
Read MoreSchool choice continues to be a major focus in Wisconsin, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states around the country, especially with the midterm elections nearing. For the latest pertinent news here at home, see School Choice Wisconsin’s press release headlined Results again show that parental choice programs work for parents, students and schools. “As in prior years, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs have outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam,” says the release. Check out a few updates from around the country. Also see the interesting story about record numbers of young people in “Generation COVID”…
Read MoreThe top choice news in the state at the moment: As in prior years, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs have outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam. See our press release here.
Read MoreFor Immediate Release September 29, 2022 Contact: Nicholas Kelly On September 29, 2022, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released the state test scores via the Wisconsin Student Assessment System. As in prior years, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam. “This continuing pattern is quite noteworthy,” said Nic Kelly, School Choice Wisconsin president. He added: “The fact that choice students from low-income and working-class families score higher on average than public school students is consistent with other data and research. Despite taxpayer funding at 60% of public school levels, choice…
Read MoreChoiceWords wants schools and parents to be aware of the services School Choice Wisconsin provides. ChoiceWords sees SCW staff in action daily, helping schools plow through complicated paperwork and often making in-person visits. ChoiceWords sees how SCW functions as a lifeline for school administrators and others across the state. “We are here to serve our communities and schools,” says Nic Kelly, SCW president. “SCW has a dedicated history of supporting our schools and empowering parents to be able to make the choices they want for their child’s education. We are united in these efforts to provide quality educational experiences for…
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