Area students join those around the state to prepare for the WKCE

By Leigh Ann Wagner Kroening
Kewaunee County News

Luxemburg-Casco Intermediate School Principal Jolene Hussong is known for her immaculate office. But these days, there's more decorating her room than just the inspirational athletically themed wall-hangings.

Boxes and boxes of test booklets line the floor of Hussong's headquarters near the entrance of the school. As the district assessment coordinator for the Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Exam (WKCE), Hussong's office is the receiving area for the test materials, which then get distributed to the individual classrooms in the three schools, which provide the test to their students.

"It's really a process," Hussong said. "To be in charge of handling all the test materials for our entire district is a lot of responsibility. This is high stakes."

About the test

The WKCE is given to students in grades 3-8 and 10 in math and reading and in grades 4, 8 and 10 in language arts, science and social studies. The WKCE is a standards-based test, which means it measures how well students are mastering specific skills defined by the state of Wisconsin.

WKCE results show the level of proficiency a student demonstrates in each of the subject areas tested. The results are scored based on four proficiency levels: minimum performance, basic, proficient and advanced. The goal is for all students to score at or above the proficient level.

Students are provided with test booklets that contain the questions, as well as the mostly multiple-choice answers and space for some short-answer responses. This year's testing window as established by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is Oct. 26 through Nov. 25.

Criticizing the WKCE

Luxemburg-Casco District Administrator Pat Saunders said the WKCE is in its last years, as new state School Superintendent Tony Evers plans to replace it with something yet to be developed by the DPI in 2012.

Saunders hopes the new test will take into account some of the variables that the WKCE does not. The current test provides a different test to a different class of kids every year, he said.

"The test does provide an opportunity for a school district to measure the achievement of a specific group of students on a specific group of tests at a certain time," Saunders said. "It's tempting to make global assumptions based on the results of these tests, but it's incredibly important to factor in the variables."

Algoma School District Superintendent Ron Welch said another criticism of the test is the time of year during which it is administered. In October and November the students really are just getting back into the swing of the school year, he said.

"The WKCE really is testing prior knowledge with a summer break in there," Welch said. "If we could test the grade level the students just completed, I think it would be a lot more valid."

Welch, whose students in a number of different grades have scored below the state average in a variety of subject areas, said the test also treats all students the same. Algoma has 38 percent of its students receiving free and reduced-cost lunch and 6 percent of its students with a limited English proficiency. The state average is 31 percent and 5 percent respectively.

"Different kids have different knowledge and experiences," he said. "It's not fair to give them all the same kind of test."

The WKCE as a tool

Kewaunee Elementary Principal Marge Weichelt said when the WKCE test results come back in the spring, the district's educators and administrators spend three days analyzing them.

"We look at the trends — the strengths and the weaknesses," Weichelt said. "We look at the items and try to form a hypothesis. If the students are scoring a proficiency level of 95 percent, we still look at the question or the test to see where the strengths are."

Hussong said one of the first things she does when the WKCE results are returned is to graph each student's scores. The test helps single out not only the students who are struggling, but it also helps identify those who may qualify for advanced classes. WKCE test results have led to special invitation-only summer classes and after-school teacher-led study halls for those who need extra help and to literature and advanced math classes for high achievers, she said.

Saunders said the test also helps identify problems and potential in classroom textbooks, curriculum and teaching styles.

"We use the WKCE as not only one of the tools to test student achievement but also as a measure of effective instruction," he said.

Making comparisons

The test also can measure how a school's achievement changes from year to year, how the school compares to the state average and how the school stacks up against other schools in the state.

While Weichelt said she uses the data to compare her school with schools of similar size, Kewaunee High School Principal Mike Holtz said it's the state averages that provide the most concern for him.

"We always compare ourselves to the state average," Holtz said. "For the last four years, we have been above average at every single level."

Hussong said she looks at as many different comparisons as possible to measure the achievement of her students.

"We always do well on the tests, but I always think we can do better," Hussong said. "We set the bar high, as well we should. I expect us to exceed the state average by roughly 10 percent and perform as well as or better than schools of comparable size."

Welch said he doesn't worry too much about comparisons and downplayed the importance of the test in general. The test is only one measure of student achievement, and how the students perform in the classroom throughout the year is a much more accurate measurement of success, he said.

"We're fine with the WKCE being one of the assessments our kids get," Welch said. "But because it's a state test and the results are posted on the DPI Web site, it's made out to be this big deal. It should be a piece of the overall assessment and not an end-all. It's not the only test, and it's certainly not the major one."