Statistics & Facts About Wisconsin's Great Schools
Wisconsin public schools are among the best in the nation, according to objective measures of educational accomplishment.
Evidence of Wisconsin School Success
A large number of advocacy organizations today are pushing a conservative agenda to privatize public education, which means replacing public schools with schools that are run by corporations or non-profit organizations. Many studies originating from these groups are intended to denigrate public education, suggesting there is a need to replace it. Below are some important points to remember about Wisconsin’s public school success. Many indicators in fact suggest that Wisconsin has one of the best systems of public education in the nation.
Graduation rates—we’re #1
Few people realize that the nation today graduates more students than it did in the past. In the 1920s, for example, a mere 20 percent of the population had a high school degree. And that number was up to only 50 percent by 1960. Today, Wisconsin leads the nation, graduating 89 percent of its students, well above the national average of 74 percent.
Recently, changes were made in the way graduation rates are determined. A new study by the National Center for Education Statistics, which looked at the average freshman graduation rate, found that Wisconsin ranked first nationally on graduation rates the last two years.
College Entrance Exams
Wisconsin also is a national leader on college entrance exams. Nationally, about 45 percent of students take the ACT, but in Wisconsin almost 70 percent of students took the test in 2010. Even with large numbers of students taking the exam, Wisconsin scored first or second nationally the last 20 years. It ranked third in 2010 with a composite score of 22.2, just below Iowa and Minnesota.
On the SAT, Wisconsin students scored 595 in reading and 604 in math in 2010, well above national averages of 501 (reading) and 516 (math). The state also scored well above the national average in writing, earning a score of 579 compared to the national average of 492.
Advanced Placement
Recent results on the Advanced Placement tests show that Wisconsin scored above the national average, with 70 percent of 2010 graduates passing the exam, making them eligible for college credit. Wisconsin is first among all states in the Midwest on the percent of 2010 graduates passing the AP exam. A higher percentage of students took the AP exam in Wisconsin than any other state in the Midwest, and more children today are enrolled in AP classes in Wisconsin than at any time in state history.
Post-secondary education
Three-quarters of Wisconsin children go on to some form of post-secondary education, including two-year and technical colleges.
Highly qualified Teachers
Wisconsin has one of the highest rates of “in-field” teaching in the nation, meaning that more teachers here have a degree in the subject they are teaching than any other state, except two. Ninety-eight percent of teachers are highly qualified; 52 percent of teachers hold a master’s degree (compared to 9 percent of the state’s general population); and only 2.5 percent of Wisconsin teachers hold emergency or provisional licenses.
Safest schools in the nation
Wisconsin has the second-lowest reported incidents of gun threats or violence, or number of high school students carrying weapons to school (Center for Disease Control, "Youth Risk Behavior," 2009).