Wisconsin lags most states in post-pandemic academic growth, but these districts are getting praise
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A national report released this month found Wisconsin is trailing most states when it comes to post-pandemic academic growth, but several districts were highlighted for making significant strides post-2019.
The 'Education Scorecard' has been produced annually in a joint project by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities.
The 2025 scorecard found Wisconsin ranked 33rd out of 38 eligible states in math score improvement from 2022 to 2025. In reading over that span, Wisconsin ranked 30th out of 35 states.
The report noted some districts are producing scores a full grade level worse than they had in 2019. The West Allis-West Milwaukee, Kenosha, Oshkosh and Sun Prairie districts were among those near or at a grade level below their 2019 marks in both reading and math.
Chris Bucher, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), noted Wisconsin's strong performance on 8th grade math scores in recent National Assessment for Educational Progress testing. The DPI also pointed to the U.S. News & World Report ranking Wisconsin 7th overall in Pre-K-12 education.
“The pandemic disrupted learning for students in every state, and recovery has varied across the country. In Wisconsin, schools continue to focus on early literacy while also strengthening math achievement across grade levels. That work takes sustained investment, support, and time.
However, the researchers also highlighted districts that have shown notable growth.
The Hamilton, Elmbrook and Verona districts were singled out for their math growth. Racine Unified was highlighted for improved reading outcomes.
The Waukesha and Cedarburg districts were praised for improving both math and reading scores.
However, Fond du Lac was in the report's spotlight as Wisconsin's "district on the rise."
Superintendent Matt Steinbarth was one of 17 administrators nationwide featured for leading districts showing significant improvement in both math and reading scores.
Steinbarth told CBS 58 in an interview Friday the first step was accountability -- getting teachers and building leaders to accept metrics the district would use to measure success. He said the changes were not welcomed with open arms at first.
"Parkside Elementary, right now, top 99th percentile in the state of Wisconsin in terms of student growth," Steinbarth said. "The first October that they really implemented some of the changes that we're doing right now, they lost four or five teachers in October."
Steinbarth said the emphasis on accountability also applied to students. He said the district shifted from an attitude of "sympathy" to one of "empathy," in an effort to ensure it wouldn't lower expectations for students.
"Prior to the last, probably, five years, we would let a student that maybe didn't get a lot of sleep at home put their head down, put their hood up and get some time to sleep," Steinbarth said. "That's not an option in Fond du Lac. If you're in school, we need you doing the best you can to learn."
Steinbarth also credits a shift in staffing. The district has Teachers on Special Assignment, referred to as TOSAs, serving as a hybrid of assistant principals and deans of students.
The TOSAs will handle much of the day-to-day administrative and disciplinary load, which Steinbarth said frees up principals.
"To be more in the classroom and working on the data-driven instruction, knowing the curriculum K-5 at the elementary level," Steinbarth said. "Coming out of COVID, we realized there's some behavior issues we hadn't been used to prior to COVID happening, and our principals were being pulled consistently out of the academic leadership roles of monitoring teachers or evaluating teachers."
Then, there's the emphasis on year-round learning. Steinbarth raved about the district's partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fond du Lac.
"They will use some of our curriculum resources. They will use tools we currently have and the ways we do it," he said. "And they actually will hire on our teachers that want additional work in the summer."
Frayed funding
Despite the national acclaim, Steinbarth and the district have not won over enough of Fond du Lac's voters. The district unsuccessfully held a referendum last year. This spring, another referendum failed, falling by a little more than 100 votes.
Steinbarth said the rejections forced the district to cut 70 staff members last year, and another 30 staff members will be let go this year.
The superintendent joined the chorus of Wisconsin school administrators calling for the state's complex school funding formula to be updated.
"There just needs to be something changing at the state level, I believe," he said.
Steinbarth added he was disappointed the Legislature failed to pass a $1.8 billion bill that would've drawn down most of the state's projected surplus.
Senate Democrats united against the agreement, and they had a strange bedfellow in GOP candidate for governor Tom Tiffany, who also publicly railed against the surplus deal Gov. Tony Evers reached with Republican legislative leaders.
The deal included $315 million in additional special education funding for districts statewide. Steinbarth said Fond du Lac's slated amount would've made a substantial difference.
Over a two-year span, Fond Du Lac would've gotten about $2.3 million more in additional special education aid.
"That would've, alone, given us room in the '27-28 school year to not be $1.8 million in deficit again," Steinbarth said.