Inside a 5th grade classroom at Chappell Elementary School in Green Bay. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A renewed focus on public education in Wisconsin has been working to get students reading up to grade level, or exceeding expectations.
Inside Chappell Elementary School on Green Bay’s west side, five state lawmakers were given a look at how the Green Bay Public School District is implementing Act 20.
“This gives us an appropriate level of guidance, support and nudge around the right practices that we should be engaged in,” said David Johns, Associate Superintendent for the Green Bay Area Public School District.
Act 20 was passed by the state Legislature in 2023 with a goal of improving early literacy for students. The law calls for all public schools to assess reading levels to achieve proficiency in reading before the 4th grade.
In The Nation’s Report Card‘s national data for 2024, 31% of Wisconsin 4th graders were at or above proficient reading levels.
Data for the 2023-24 school year from the state’s Department of Public Instruction reflects that 51% of students were meeting English language arts expectations. This data is from the Forward Exam, which updated the academic standards for last year’s exam.
Lawmakers were given a tour inside some classrooms to see how learning aligning with Act 20 is playing out.
A kindergarten classroom was learning how to sound out and decode words, which will aid them in reading.
Republican assemblyman Joel Kitchens of Sturgeon Bay was one of the driving forces in crafting Act 20.
“I was really impressed with what they’re doing here and the leadership that their administration and principals are showing. You know, and it was just great to see the kids so engaged and enthusiastic about learning to read,” said Kitchens.
GBAPS uses a technology software called “Lexia Core 5,” which Chappell Elementary says has helped close some of the gaps in reading skills among students.
Chappell Elementary says at the beginning of the year, about only 20% of students reached all skillsets required on Lexia to move up to the next grade level. At present day — that number is up to 61% of students.
Lawmakers have taken notice on how the use of technology is working to help improve reading comprehension.
“The magic of being a teacher I think is you have 15-20-25 kids to manage and some of them are pretty advanced and some of them might not be and they have, they also have computer tools that are sort of co-pilots for them,” said State Sen. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay.
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