Marshfield students continue to score lower on standardized tests than before pandemic

Erik Pfantz, Marshfield News-Herald
·4 min read

MARSHFIELD – Students in the School District of Marshfield scored lower on standardized tests last school year than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction this month.

The test results from the 2022-23 school year do not show a pattern of improvement in the three years since 2020, when the tests were not conducted due to communicable disease prevention measures taken by the state. The next year the tests were administered, the 2020-21 school year, saw between a 3-6% reduction in student proficiency in both english language arts (ELA) and mathematics, though the Department of Instructions cautions analysis of these results due to a significant number of non-participants.

The Forward Exams are part of the Wisconsin Student Assessment System, which is a series of standardized tests designed to meet the requirements put in place by the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act. The federal law works toward providing “equal opportunity for all students,” according to the Department of Education website, and replaced the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.

Students in Wisconsin are tested on mathematics and English language arts, which includes reading, writing and listening, each year from grades three to eight, social studies in grades four, eight, and 10, and science in grades four and eight.

Here's a breakdown of how Marshfield students performed on the ELA and Math Forward Exams, as well as the ACT.

Marshfield students’ test scores have not returned to pre-pandemic levels

The 2018-19 school year was the last year the tests were administered prior to measures taken to reduce the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In that year, of Marshfield students in grades 3 to 8, 50.3% scored proficient or better in math and 52.6% in ELA. Last year, the students in grades 3 to 8 scored 44.9% proficient or better in math and 47.1% in ELA.

Those numbers have regressed since the 2020-21 year where the results were 44.1% and 49.4%, respectively. Only about 3% fewer than expected students took the exam that year, defying a statewide trend of more students not participating in the tests that year.

Breaking the data down between elementary and middle schools reveals a more detailed story. Middle school students continue to show a nearly eight-point deficit in math scores from their pre-pandemic peers while ELA scores have not changed much; 46.0% of 2022-23 students scored proficient or higher in ELA compared to 47.2% in 2018-19. A deficit is more apparent in the math scores, with 33% scoring proficient or higher last year compared to 41.1% in 2018-19.

In contrast, Marshfield elementary students showed reductions in both subjects since 2020. In 2022-23, students scored 48.8% proficient or higher in ELA compared to 2018-19 classes who scored 55.6% in the same categories. In the math section, 52.2% of students scored proficient or higher compared to 55.2% in the year before the pandemic.

How does the School District of Marshfield compare to nearby districts, the rest of the state?

Statewide results in the Forward exams show about 39% of students proficient or better in reading and 41% proficient or better in math.

Marshfield’s neighbors include Auburndale, Stratford, Spencer and Pittsville school districts.

Here are last year’s percentages of students scoring proficient or better on the Forward Exams:

  • Auburndale: 32.4% in ELA (decrease of 17.9% since ’18-19), 47.6% in math (increase of 19% since ’18-19)

  • Stratford: 53.6% in ELA (increase of 1.1%), 56.7% in math (decrease of 1.8%)

  • Spencer: 37.1% in ELA (decrease of 11.2%), 46.4% in math (decrease of 3.6%)

  • Pittsville: 40.9% in ELA (decrease of 5.9%), 43.5% in math (increase of 6.4%)

Marshfield students’ ACT scores hold steady in ELA, continue downward trend in math

The Department of Public Instruction also released ACT scores for the 2022-23 school year. Of the state’s entire student population, 37.7% scored proficient or better in ELA and 26.9% scored proficient or better in math. School District of Marshfield students continued scoring above state average since at least 2018-19.

The ACT is a nationwide college entrance exam that is required for Wisconsin students to take in 11th grade.

Roughly 29% of Marshfield juniors tested proficient or better on the math portion of the ACT, less than than 38.7% in the 2018-19 school year. And 47.9% of the same population scored proficient or better on the ELA portion of the exam, which is slightly less than the 50.2% of the 2018-19 group.

Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Reach him at epfantz@gannett.com or connect with him on Twitter @ErikPfantz.

This article originally appeared on Marshfield News-Herald: Marshfield students' test scores struggle to return to pre-COVID level