Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Fourth-grade students Ayianna Hill, left, and Lily Boivin, center, work on math exercises through a card game Thursday at Gresham Community School as Jocelyn Cerveny works on a computer. The school has been recognized as a Wisconsin Title I School of Recognition.
The state Department of Public Instruction has named 169 public schools as Wisconsin Title I Schools of Recognition for the 2015-16 school year.
“Congratulations to these schools. They are examples of the academic success we need in all of our schools to close achievement gaps,” State Superintendent Tony Evers said. “These awards recognize the work of students and their parents along with teachers, school administrators, and school staff members to break the link between poverty and low academic achievement.”
To be eligible for School of Recognition awards, schools must receive federal Title I funding to provide services to large numbers of high percentages of economically disadvantaged children and meet other achievement criteria.
This year’s awards recognize nine High Achieving schools and 26 High Progress schools; 11 schools earned both High Achieving and High Progress honors. There were 117 Beating the Odds schools.
High Achieving Schools meet all the annual measurable objectives for achievement and graduation; have achievement gaps that are less than 3 points between student groups or show evidence of reducing gaps; and demonstrate high achievement at the school level.
High Progress Schools fall within the top 10 percent of schools experiencing growth in reading and mathematics for elementary and middle school students, or the top 10 percent of schools with the greatest improvement in high school graduation rates; and have achievement gaps that are less than 3 points between student groups or show evidence of reducing gaps.
Beating the Odds schools are in the top 25 percent of high-poverty schools in the state and have above-average student achievement in reading and mathematics when compared to schools from similarly sized districts, schools, grade configurations and poverty levels.