Previously I pointed out that Bay View Middle and High School now has the highest test scores on the 10th grade state tests of any of the regular high schools that do not have entrance requirements. This year BVMHS moved ahead of the previous leader in that category, Hamilton HS. BVHS was the only major Milwaukee high school to show a measurable increase in its Wisconsin Knowledge Concept Examination (WKCE).
Now we also know that the Bay View Leadership Academies (BVLA) at BVMHS posted the highest gains. If its academies were a separate school, BVLA would have higher test scores than Riverside and Reagan. Only two Milwaukee high schools have higher scores: King and Milwaukee School of Languages.
BVLA test scores are roughly equal to Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA). MSHA does better in Reading and Language. BVLA does better in Math and Science. BVLA are the Academy of Engineering (AOE) and Building, Architecture, and Technology (BAT). Given the math/science emphasis of these two Bay View programs, it is understandable that BVLA would have higher math/science test scores.
There is still a huge gap between the overall Bay View scores and the five schools that have entrance requirements. Schools with some sort of entrance requirements are King, Reagan, Riverside, Milwaukee School of Languages, and Milwaukee High School of Arts.
These scores illustrate the problem with using test score data to evaluate schools. It is entirely possible that other MPS high schools may have subgroups that score well above average. For example, Hamilton may have students in their honor programs doing every bit as well as students in the top schools. Parents may shy away from a school because its overall test scores are lower even though students in a school’s subgroup are doing well. This requires that parents look at the needs of their children and strengths of each school and not paint with a broad brush.
The percentages here represent the students who scored proficient or above on the 10th grade WKCE state test for Bay View Learning Academies, Bay View , Hamilton, King, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Milwaukee School of Languages, Reagan, and Riverside.
BVLA BV Ham King MHSA MSOL Rgn Rvrsd
Reading 69.7 38.8 36.4 84.0 71.8 74.6 63.8 48.0
Languages 58.7 37.0 30.1 77.4 61.0 83.0 61.4 50.3
Math 63.0 32.1 30.1 74.6 45.7 62.7 51.3 39.1
Science 58.7 33.4 23.9 85.2 56.9 72.0 57.8 40.8
