On January 1 of each year, each school board is required to distribute to the parent or guardian of each pupil enrolled in the school district a school and school district performance report that includes the information specified in the performance report. Why does DPI collect the information and who uses the information Under s.115.38, Stats. Information on the school and school district performance report is public information and is used for various purposes, one of which is to provide information to legislators. For example, Representative Gregg Underheim has requested the information regarding method of reading instruction used in the school district and the textbook series used to teach reading along with the performance data on the Wisconsin Reading Comprehension Test. Based on a very quick eyeball review of a few completed survey forms, responses vary from district to district as would be expected in a local control state.
Some districts have reported in much detail, others report more generally.
For example, in districts that indicate that they use trade books exclusively or with additional materials, some have included lists of publishers and titles of trade books, while others simply make the statement that they use various trade books without indicating specific titles. In some districts, the schools within the district use the same foundational material, in other districts the materials vary from school to school. Many districts are using reading materials dated in the 1980s. For the high school portion of the survey, some respondents indicated materials used in literature courses, some indicated that reading was taught in all content areas, some indicated that reading wasn't taught as a discrete course, and some indicated specific titles of trade books or content area textbooks. Responses varied from district to district.