Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2007-08

With the passage of the 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) are now required to administer a nationally normed standardized test annually in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP (a.k.a. “Choice”) students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further directs Choice schools to submit copies of the scores from those tests to the School Choice Demonstration Project for processing and reporting to the Legislative Audit Bureau. During the 2007-08 school year, MPCP schools administered either nationally normed tests, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the criterion referenced Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE). The School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) received student test scores from 114 of the 115 schools participating in the MPCP that were required to administer tests. Specifically, the SCDP received 5,763 nationally normed student test scores from 81 schools and 1,735 WKCE scores from 36 schools. These school numbers add to 123 because some schools used both types of exams and sent all 4th, 8th, and 10th grade scores to the SCD