The state's report cards on school and school district success came out earlier this fall. Those performance measurements look at areas including student achievement and growth, a school's success in closing performance gaps and readiness for post-secondary education.
Those report cards showed continued challenges at the largest district in the state, Milwaukee Public Schools. Some 48 MPS schools received failing grades from the state. The district is working to turn fortunes around in some of those schools, under a reform program called Commitment Schools.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service looks at how one school, Thurston Woods Campus, is implementing the changes. Reporter and Public Policy Forum fellow Molly Rippinger spoke with Lake Effect's Mitch Teich about the Commitment Schools initiative and how the progress will be measured.
"I think any teacher will tell you they could always use more resources," Rippenger says. "But it's hard to allocate the funds, and I think right now they're trying to start small and administer aid where its most needed and where it can most show improvement."