Wisconsin

Wisconsin students making progress after pandemic achievement losses

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2024

Wisconsin students making progress after pandemic achievement losses

Wisconsin reading achievement scores are returning back to 2019 levels, but students are still struggling to make up for pandemic learning losses in math, according to a new report.

Researchers at Stanford and Harvard found U.S. students achieved historic gains in math and reading during the 2022-23 school year, the first full year of recovery from the pandemic.

But despite those improvements, students still made up only one-third of the pandemic loss in math and one-quarter of the loss in reading.

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“Students overall haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels of achievement,” said study co-author Sean Reardon, faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. “But clear progress is being made.”

School districts are worried the learning achievements made could be lost when federal pandemic funds run out this fall.

Even if they maintain last year’s pace, students will not be caught up by the time federal relief expires in September, the report found.

Poorer students fell further behind, so recovery is taking longer

Between 2019 and 2022, achievement in Wisconsin fell by 37 percent of a grade equivalent in math and 28 percent in reading, according to the report.

Between 2022 and 2023, math achievement across the state increased by 22 percent, but most districts remain far below 2019 levels.

Disparities across Wisconsin persist:

Milwaukee Public Schools and Racine Unified and West Allis-West Milwaukee School District all lost a full grade equivalent or more in math between 2019 and 2022.
Howard-Suamico, Elmbrook and Appleton school districts are already scoring above their 2019 levels.
Green Bay, West Allis-West Milwaukee, and Sheboygan students remain more than half a grade equivalent behind in reading.

The achievement gaps between high- and low-poverty districts in Wisconsin have widened, but that’s the result of larger initial losses in poor districts and the slower recovery of poor students within the average district, Reardon said.

“The recovery has been pretty even, but it’s not undoing the inequality,” Reardon said. “So in other words, kids in most districts are recovering, on average about the same amount. But because the poor districts fell behind so much further, they’re still much further behind.”

Educators in the school districts have used similar outreach and programing to try to reach students with the help of federal pandemic funds.

A tale of two districts

The Howard-Suamico School District just outside of Green Bay, initiated a task force focused on continuous improvement when the pandemic hit.

Amanda Waldo, director of teaching and learning for the district, said one of the key strategies has been to put in place study teams for students who are struggling with reading or math.

Teachers use data and create intervention plans for those children to get them back on track, Waldo said.

Last summer, the district launched Learning Leap Academy, a targeted summer school program for students who are in need of academic support.

“It’s almost like a camp,” Waldo said. “They get the bookmobile, our zoo comes and visits them, but they’re also reading every single day, and they’re practicing math every single day. And we’ve seen a lot of great growth from that program as well.”

The tactics have worked. The district’s change in average reading scores in 2022-23 was 35 percent above the national average compared to pre-pandemic levels. Scores for math were 20 percent above the national average last year.

Howard-Suamico has about 5,700 students. More than 85 percent of them are white and about 19 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch.

In Racine Unified School District, where there are 16,000 students and 60 percent are economically disadvantaged, educators have also launched targeted summer programs, early literacy programs and a new math curriculum for middle school students.

But the results haven’t been the same.

The district’s change in average reading scores in 2022-23 was 38 percent below the national average compared to pre-pandemic levels. Scores for math were 18 percent below the national average last year.

Janell Decker, acting academic officer for the Racine school district, said attendance and engagement is just starting to get back on track since the pandemic.

And getting parents to participate in academic programs isn’t always easy.

Pandemic money has helped, but will soon be gone

Wisconsin’s public schools received nearly $2.4 billion in three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER funds, meant to help students make up for learning loss during the pandemic.

Wisconsin received about $1.5 billion dollars in its final round of federal recovery funding. As of February, more than $300 million still needed to be allocated and spent by the end of September, according to conservative Institute for Reforming Government, which reviewed public DPI disclosure documents.

Programs like Howard-Suamico’s Learning Leap Academy and Racine’s literacy work has been made possible by pandemic relief funds.

Both districts worry about what will happen to these programs when the money runs out.

“We are currently looking at our operating budget and seeing what really worked best and trying to keep some of the supports that are showing really good gains,” Decker said. “But I think I speak on behalf of all the districts in saying that it’s impossible to keep all of the things that we see working.”

Reardon said a study is currently underway at Stanford to determine how much of the learning loss recovery is due to ESSER funds. But early estimates show the money has been a significant catalyst.

“The recovery has been much larger than you would predict based on the amount of ESSER funds that were awarded and spent,” Reardon said. “So we don’t know if the ESSER funds caused it, but we do know that the amount of recovery is quite large relative to what even the most optimistic prediction you would have made based on the amount of extra funds available.”

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Lutheran boys basketball pursues three-peat with revamped lineup

Published

1 hour ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin Lutheran boys basketball pursues three-peat with revamped lineup

Wisconsin Lutheran returns to Division 1 seeking a third consecutive state championship.
The team returns its two leading scorers, senior Zavier Zens and junior Kager Knueppel.
New starters will need to fill the roles of three key graduates from last season’s title team.
Coach Ryan Walz expects Zens to become a more vocal leader and for Knueppel to develop as a three-level scorer.

Over the first couple weeks of the WIAA high school boys basketball season, the Journal Sentinel will be checking in with the Milwaukee area’s three reigning state championship teams.

Our visits began with reigning Division 3 champion Milwaukee Academy of Science, which will compete in D2 in the WIAA postseason this year. The next check-in comes with a team that knows all about repeating in a higher division, the two-time defending state champions from Wisconsin Lutheran. The Vikings won their fourth WIAA state title and second consecutive after receiving a competitive balance elevation from D2 to D1 last season. The quest for a third straight title will also be in D1, and the Vikings look up to the challenge.

Here is what to know about Wisconsin Lutheran, which improved to 4-0 with a 69-20 victory over New Berlin West on Dec. 12.

Roles to fill around returning stars Zens, Knueppel

Wisco’s two leading scorers from the 2024-25 team return, but the surrounding cast looks a bit different this season. Northern Iowa commit and 6-foot-7 senior forward Zavier Zens (22.2 points per game last season) and 6-10 junior guard Kager Knueppel (13.5 ppg) are the two returning starters, while the three graduated starters include guard Isaiah Mellock (11.1 ppg, Wisconsin Lutheran College), forward/guard Alex Greene (10.9 ppg, Concordia) and forward Ben Langebartels (2.3 ppg).

Coach Ryan Walz said he wants to see Zens become a more vocal leader this year, while adding Knueppel can round out his ability as a three-level scorer.

“I think that’s a big step for any senior to make, to get outside of yourself, to be able to be engaged with other people on the team and not just always be worried about what you’re doing, but also being concerned for your teammates and showing that kind of leadership,” Walz said of Zens.

“From our standpoint, we want to see [Kager] be an effective basketball player at the basket, in the midrange and from three-point range. That’s the next step for guys who are on the cusp of being really, really good players, and that’s what Zavier did last year,” Walz added on Knueppel.

In place of the graduates this season have been former reserve 6-foot junior guard Riley Walz (4.2 ppg last season), former reserve forward and 6-6 senior Kinston Knueppel (5.0 ppg) as well as junior 6-7 forward Jamail Sewell.

“Riley’s going to have to handle the ball and distribute it, get us into offense and really control what we do, and Kinston is that versatile piece – kind of like Alex Greene last year – where he has to find ways where he can influence the game offensively with his intelligence, his skill level, his flexibility of being able to go inside and outside,” coach Walz said. “Jamail is 6-7, almost 6-8, and obviously anybody who saw him in football pads saw this enormous man, and he moves really, really well and has great hands. He needs to catch up on some of his basketball things and his skill and his understanding of the game, but he is an enormous presence on the floor.”

The Vikings again do not lack for size and will send one of the tallest starting fives in the state to the floor night-in and night-out between Zens, Kinston Knueppel, Kager Knueppel and Sewell. Kager Knueppel said teams will also have to watch out for Riley Walz on the perimeter as they crowd the paint.

“He’s been working really hard. I like him coming into the point guard role because he does not turn the ball over and he can shoot threes really well,” Kager Knueppel said.

As they learned with a late substitution in the D1 title game in March, every player needs to be ready for their moment.

“You don’t know when your time is going to come but you have to be ready, and so as coaches it’s our job to absolutely keep pushing them and moving them forward as best that we can,” coach Walz said.

Wisconsin Lutheran not shying from expectations

Returning top players to a team coming off consecutive state titles creates expectations around the program to compete for a three-peat. Zens said the team is embracing those expectations, while relying on the experience that has led them this far.

“We all know there’s high expectations for us, but those are our expectations for ourselves as well,” Zens said.

The pressure to defend a title is nothing new for Kager Knueppel, and something he thinks the team will be prepared for on a nightly basis.

“All of our guys understand that we have a target on our back, and people will want to come after us and beat us,” Knueppel said.

Coach Walz said the tone of keeping expectations in their proper framework is set by Zens.

“He is intrinsically motivated,” Walz said. “If your best player has no letdown and is leading by example, then that just brings everybody else along.”

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Wisconsin

When does Wisconsin volleyball play again? NCAA tournament next match

Published

14 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

When does Wisconsin volleyball play again? NCAA tournament next match

Start time yet to be announced for regional finals match

AUSTIN, Texas – Wisconsin volleyball will be spending two more days in Austin.

The Badgers ensured that with a four-set win over Stanford on Dec. 12 in the NCAA tournament regional semifinals. It was the eighth consecutive win in the regional semifinals for Kelly Sheffield’s group and its first-ever win over Stanford in program history.

Here’s what to know about Wisconsin’s next match:

Who will Wisconsin volleyball play next?

Wisconsin’s next match will be against top-seeded Texas in the NCAA tournament regional finals, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.

What time is Wisconsin volleyball’s next match?

The Wisconsin-Texas match will be on Sunday, Dec. 14. A time has not yet been announced, but it will either be at 2 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT.

How to watch Wisconsin-Texas NCAA tournament regional finals match?

NCAA volleyball tournament bracket for regional finals

Creighton vs. Kentucky on Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky
Purdue vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Pittsburgh
Wisconsin vs. Texas on Dec. 14 in Austin
Winner of Nebraska/Kansas vs. winner of Louisville/Texas A&M on Dec. 14 in Lincoln, Nebraska

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Wisconsin

How tariffs are affecting Wisconsin’s real and artificial Christmas trees

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

How tariffs are affecting Wisconsin’s real and artificial Christmas trees

Nearly all artificial Christmas trees in the world today are made in China. And with that comes an up to 30 percent tariff rate on imported Christmas products — including artificial trees.

Kris Reisdorf is co-president of the Racine- and Sturtevant-based home and garden store Milaeger’s. On WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Reisdorf said tariffs are affecting their prices on artificial trees, but she’s mitigating most of the rate hike through negotiations with manufacturers and by taking on lower profit margins herself.

“We are doing our fair share in making Christmas affordable,” Reisdorf said. “When the average person is thinking 30 percent (tariffs), that’s not by any means what they’re really paying.”

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Milaeger’s “almost real” trees range from under $100 to well over $3,000. Reisdorff said she’s raised prices for all artificial trees by only around $20 compared to last year.

Residorf said tree sales are largely stable despite the uptick in tariff pricing.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll last year found that 58 percent of Americans were buying artificial trees instead of real ones. That’s up from 40 percent in 2010.

Greg Hann owns Hann’s Christmas Farm in Oregon. Hann also sits on the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association Board and is president-elect of the National Christmas Tree Association.

Hann told “Wisconsin Today” the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 created a surge in business for real evergreen trees and that demand has been holding relatively steady ever since. That said, Hann acknowledged real Christmas tree sales are up for him and fellow growers this year. He attributed the increase in sales to the tariffs and the fact that farmers’ supplies are finally catching up to the higher demand brought on by COVID-19. Nearly all real trees come from the United States or Canada, according to Hann.

Hann said a recent survey by the National Christmas Tree Association found 84 percent of Christmas tree growers nationwide have kept prices the same over the last two years, and that includes his own farm. Being grown locally in Wisconsin, Hann said his business is largely unaffected by tariffs.

“It’s kind of nice to have a good supply with a stable price in this economy,” he said.

Reisdorf said that some artificial tree manufacturers are moving operations outside of China to places like Cambodia. But most other countries in the east are also facing tariff threats.

Instead, Reisdorf said artificial tree importers are lobbying President Donald Trump to lower his 30 percent tariffs on Christmas products like trees and ornaments, because those kinds of goods aren’t coming back to be made in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Hann said his organization is lobbying to have tariffs on artificial trees increased to 300 percent. He said the added tariff costs help create an “even playing field” between real and artificial trees, since farmers have to pay farm staff and cover fertilizer costs.

But it isn’t always about the cost. Reisdorf said artificial trees have the benefit of lasting “forever,” essentially.

Hann said many of his customers come to the farm looking to keep up the Christmas tradition of picking out their own family tree.

“They’re looking for that fragrance of a real tree,” he said. “They want to start that tradition of the family together. They pick the tree, they take it into their house.”

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