Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Wisconsin’s new civics test for high school graduation is proving to be more challenging for some area students than just naming the president.
At some schools, as many as four out of 10 students have failed the test, which quizzes high-schoolers on their knowledge of U.S. government and history.
Students at other schools, however, have conquered the test in great numbers, such as Shawano Community High School’s perfect record of passing grades for every student who took the test.
The exam includes the same 100 questions that the federal government asks of new immigrants who are seeking to become citizens of the United States. And the passing grade for high school graduation in Wisconsin is the same required for U.S. citizenship: 60 out of 100 questions answered correctly.
Members of the class of 2017 are the first for whom high school diplomas will be withheld until they can pass the test, under a law approved by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Scott Walker.
“It does become a pretty high-stakes test,” Clintonville High School Principal Lance Bagstad said.
Out of 381 Clintonville students who took the test the first time the school district offered it, 245, or slightly more than 60 percent of those tested, scored passing grades.
Bagstad said the results were “not terrible,” but he said the district would provide tutoring and other extra help for those students who must take the test again. State law says students can take the exam as often as needed during their high school years.
Some Clintonville students have grumbled about the new graduation requirement, Bagstad said, adding that he suspects some feel a little overwhelmed by all the prerequisites.
“It becomes test burnout a little bit,” he said.
At Shawano Community High School, students turned in a performance that surprised administrators earlier this week when the test was administered for the first time. Out of 355 juniors and seniors who tackled the exam, every single one achieved a passing grade.
Principal Scott Zwirschitz said he had emailed students and their parents information about the test in advance, and some teachers offered students refresher instruction in the classroom. Still, administrators were stunned when they saw that not one student had failed.
“We were very pleasantly surprised,” he said. “We were like, ‘Holy mackerel, this is fantastic.’”
The exam, which the federal government makes publicly available with all questions and answers shown, ranges from simply naming the current president and identifying the national anthem to more challenging topics, such as naming an author of “The Federalist Papers” and citing the yearly deadline for federal income tax returns.
Students choose their answers from a multiple-choice format.
Like Shawano, Gresham Community School has registered a perfect score so far, with 46 students taking the test and all 46 getting passing grades.
At Tigerton High School, meanwhile, 64 students took the test earlier this week and 55 passed, for a schoolwide pass rate of 86 percent.
Tigerton School District Administrator Ben Rayome said even those who failed the test seemed to come very close to passing. Rayome said he interpreted the strong showing as validation of the curriculum that Tigerton students cover in eighth-grade civics and high school-level history courses.
“We were very pleased with the results,” he said. “Most of the kids did very well.”
State law allows school districts to decide when and how the civics test is presented to students. Many districts in Shawano County offer a civics course in eighth grade, so they plan to administer the exam during freshman year while students best remember what they learned in eighth grade.
Bonduel High School Principal Jane Wonderling said her social studies teachers got together and discussed how to incorporate the exam into their freshman-year curriculum.
To get the first few graduating classes caught up, Bonduel High School gave the civics test earlier this month to 276 high schoolers at all grade levels. The number who passed the exam was 268, or 97 percent.
“Our kids took it very seriously,” Wonderling said. “And we’re very proud of them.”
At Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, officials similarly gave the exam to 230 students and found that 217 passed, for a success rate of 94 percent.
Lon Ebel, dean of students at the high school, said the results were particularly impressive for older students, who are a couple of years removed from eighth-grade civics. With just 13 students needing to retake the test, Ebel said: “I would say that’s pretty good. You obviously are shooting for 100 percent.”