State Superintendent Unveils Plan For Closing Achievement Gaps

State Superintendent Tony Evers unveiled a new public education plan on Thursday that will attempt to help close Wisconsin’s achievement gap.

The plan and a new website were created by a special task force of educators that convened to come up with ways to address disparities in education between different minority groups. Evers unveiled the plan at his annual State of Education address at the state Capitol, saying he’s proud of Wisconsin’s graduation rates, ACT scores and Advanced Placement rates, but that there’s much more work to be done.

“It is unacceptable that Wisconsin is worst in the nation when it comes to the well-being of African-American students. It’s unacceptable when Hispanic and American Indian students drop out of school at a rate of 1 in 4, and African American students a rate of 1 in 3. It’s unacceptable that wide gaps still persist for students with disabilities, English learners, and students in poverty,” said Evers.

The plan makes recommendations in four categories — instruction, student-teacher relationships, family and community engagement, and school and instructional leadership. He said the achievement gap recommendations are research-based and that every school in the state can benefit from the task force’s work.