Wisconsin

Wisconsin Muddies The Picture On K-12 Student Achievement

Published

1 year ago

March 5, 2025

Wisconsin Muddies The Picture On K-12 Student Achievement

Wisconsin State Sen. Jon Jagler is amongst a group of lawmakers seeking to reinstate previously high … [+] academic standards and cut scores.

Wisconsin State Capitol

Damning national testing results earlier this year should spark a clarion call in state capitals, emboldening leaders to come clean with parents and take meaningful action that improves student learning.

But Wisconsin is running the other way, by lowering its state standards and “cut scores”—the minimum score needed to pass an assessment. The moves make it far more difficult for a parent to determine whether their child is succeeding and truly learning enough to advance to the next grade.

Parents simply aren’t being told the truth.

Colleston Morgan Jr., executive director of the Milwaukee-based City Forward Collective, an education non-profit, shed light on the impact of the most recent standards revision.

“Analyzing educational data should be a straightforward process that allows for clear year-over-year performance comparisons—and most years it is,” Morgan told me in an interview. “But the most recent changes to the Wisconsin Academic Standards and state assessment have both lowered the bar for what we expect from our students and muddied the picture of student outcomes and school performance across years.”

Wisconsin’s 2023-24 state test results show public school students have a proficiency rate of 52% in 4^th grade reading and 51% in 8^th grade math.

But the most recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) paint a less promising picture with 4^th grade reading at just 31% proficient and 8^th grade math at 37%. That’s a 21-point difference in reading and a 14-point difference in math between the state test and NAEP.

In a press release, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) discussed how a public survey influenced its decision on standards and cut scores. It stated, “Wisconsin students noted a decrease in feeling like they belonged at school. Less than half (45 percent) of students who got a “C” letter grade and just 24 percent of students who got a “D/F” said they felt like they belonged at school, survey data indicated. The updated performance level terms improve feelings of encouragement and motivation for all students, including those scoring lower on tests than their peers.”

For Morgan, that’s not justification. “Of course, we want our students to feel encouraged and motivated,” he told me. “But that doesn’t mean we lie to them and tell them that they’re more prepared than they really are. We must believe in them and work to provide them and the entire education system with the supports and resources they need to meet the challenge—the challenge that every other student will face across the country, not just here in Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, appears to agree. “I think we need to have as high standards as possible. I don’t think we should be lowering them,” he told reporters at a news conference. “It’s hard to compare year-to-year if one year you’re doing something completely different. I think it could have been handled better.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said at a recent press conference, “I think we need to have as high … [+] standards as possible. I don’t think we should be lowering them.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Help might be on the way for Wisconsin, where a group of state lawmakers has introduced a bill to reinstate Wisconsin’s previous high academic standards and cut scores.

In a statement to the Wisconsin Examiner, bill co-author, Republican Sen. John Jagler accused DPI of making the decision to change the way the state measures academic standards in a nontransparent way.

“These changes were made behind closed doors in advance and revealed only when the test scores were announced,” Jagler said. “Not surprisingly, the massive uptick in artificial performance gains was confusing at best and misleading at worst. We also lost, because of these changes, the ability to compare performance from previous years.”

The bill is still pending in the Wisconsin legislature.

To be clear, raising standards and cut scores alone doesn’t guarantee student achievement.

States need high quality curriculum, strong teacher professional development, and supports for struggling students.

But the truth matters.

Whether they plan to go to college, enter a career or join the military, Wisconsin students should be held to national and global standards. If their proficiency scores at home don’t match what’s expected beyond high school, we’re setting them up for failure.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin multi-county police chase, 2 people from Illinois arrested

Published

5 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin multi-county police chase, 2 people from Illinois arrested

article

Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. – Two people from Illinois were arrested following a police chase that started in Fond du Lac County and ended in Winnebago County on Friday, May 8.

Initial traffic stop

What we know:

According to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office, just after 1 p.m. the sheriff’s office got an alert for a stolen vehicle out of Illinois heading northbound on I-41 from County Road Y.

It was learned that the vehicle was involved in two different police chases in the past week in Illinois, but had eluded officers each time.

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A short time later, a deputy spotted the vehicle on I-41 near Winnebago Street. The deputy continued to follow the suspect vehicle northbound, waiting for more deputies to get into position to attempt a high-risk traffic stop. Once those deputies were in position, a high-risk traffic stop was conducted. The vehicle initially pulled over and stopped, but right after deputies got out of their squad cars and started telling the people to get out of the vehicle, it instead fled northbound on I-41.

Chase into Winnebago County

What we know:

The chase went into Winnebago County, with the vehicle failing to pullover and instead speeding up. As the chase continued, the vehicle continued driving recklessly, passing by other vehicles on the interstate, including passing on the shoulder and weaving between vehicles, all at a high rate of speed.

The vehicle exited I-41 and ran three red lights. The chase continued southbound on State Highway 26, with the vehicle continuing to pass vehicles at a high rate of speed on the two-lane highway.

The vehicle then went off the road and drove through the yard of a home before circling around in the yard, traveling through the ditch, and reentering the highway going northbound. It then went into a field near County Road Z and Clay Road.

As a sergeant with the sheriff’s office was moving in to perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT Maneuver), the suspect vehicle went into reverse and rammed the front of the squad. The vehicle then attempted to leave the field by traveling through a ditch and back up onto the road, where another sheriff’s squad ended the chase by intentionally striking the vehicle and pushing it off the road and back into the ditch.

The vehicle rolled over in the ditch, came to rest upright, but was then disabled and could not move. Two people got out of the vehicle and were taken into custody. The vehicle started on fire and a fire department had to respond to extinguish the fire. Both people from the vehicle were evaluated by medical personnel on scene.

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Facing charges

What we know:

The driver of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old man from Des Plaines, Illinois. He was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:

Fleeing/Eluding an Officer
1st-Degree Reckless Endangering Safety (2 Counts)
Resisting/Obstructing Officer
Delivering Illegal Articles by Inmate (Ecstasy Pills).

The driver’s criminal history in Illinois was flagged as armed and dangerous with previous weapons offenses, dangerous drug offenses, and criminal damage to property.

The passenger of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old woman from Franklin Park, Illinois. She was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:

Fleeing/Eluding—Party to a Crime
1st Degree Reckless Endangering Safety—Party to a Crime
Possession of THC
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Resisting and Obstructing an Officer

The Source: The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office sent FOX6 a press release.

Police ChasesFond du Lac CountyNews

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Wisconsin

Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars

Published

18 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars

The Wisconsin stepmother from hell accused of abusing her 35-pound 14-year-old daughter by depriving her of food and water has entered a no-contest plea in the twisted case.

Melissa Goodman, 52, now faces up to 46 years in prison if she’s handed the maximum sentence for charges of chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment.

She’s set to be sentenced on July 1.

Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, have been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter. Outagamie County Jail

Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, has been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter.

Goodman’s daughter Savanna Goodman and her girlfriend Kayla Stemler were also charged over the alleged abuse, People reported.

The family is accused of locking the teen in a bedroom without a mattress, restricting her to only her room for years and depriving her of food and water, according to Wisconsin prosecutors.

The mobile home they lived in became a house of horrors for the teenager, who was mistaken for a 6-year-old when she was found by cops in August 2025 and rushed to the hospital.

Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill.

Responding officers found her weighing just 35 pounds; she was hospitalized with multi-organ dysfunction, including respiratory failure and pancreatitis.

Melissa Goodman — Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill. WBAY TV-2 | Green Bay, WI/YouTube

From 2020 until August 2025, the victim, whose name is not disclosed because she is a minor, was allegedly isolated in a trailer on Hattie Lane, in Oneida, Wisconsin.

Extended family members were told she was away on vacation or with other relatives to explain her absence.

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Wisconsin

‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair

When “Song Sung Blue” – the biopic about Milwaukee Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder – had a premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee last December, star Hugh Jackman gave Claire Sardina (played in the film by Kate Hudson) an engraved bench honoring Lighting & Thunder to be installed at Wisconsin State Fair Park.

In August, Sardina will get to have a seat on that bench – and sing again on a State Fair stage.

Sardina will perform with tribute act So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience Aug. 9 at the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater, the largest stage at the fair featuring free concerts with admission.

For Sardina, it will be a return to a place central to Lighting & Thunder. The band performed in the Milwaukee area from 1989 until Mike Sardina, aka Lightning, passed away in 2006. The State Fair was one of their favorite places to play, and the couple got married there in 1994.

The couple’s wild story – from a performance at a Pearl Jam Summerfest concert to major health issues – was the subject of the documentary “Song Sung Blue” that inspired the biopic, and earned Hudson an Oscar nomination for portraying Claire Sardina.

Fair officials May 8 revealed the full headliner lineup for the stage, which includes: