Wisconsin Arts Education Data Reporting

In February of 2019 Rep. Joel Kitchens and Sen. Dale Kooyenga co-authored bills requesting that arts education data be included on the State & District Report Cards in Wisconsin. On February 5, 2020 Governor Tony Evers signed Act 85 into law:

This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to include in the annual school district and school accountability report, commonly referred to as school and school district report cards, the percentage of pupils participating in music, dance, drama, and visual arts. Under the bill, DPI must include this information for each high school and school district and must also include the statewide percentage of pupils participating in each subject. The bill specifies that this information may not be used to evaluate a school’s performance or school district’s improvement. Data was first collected for the 2020-21 school year and published in the fall of 2021. At this time, arts course and program data are reported to DPI by public schools and districts only. Private schools in a Choice Program do not send this data to DPI. Arts data will also not appear on report cards for any public schools or districts without grades 9-12.

 

The following video and slide deck was created to assist those who collect and report this data. The need for accurate “clean” data is imperative in order for communities to better understand and support what schools are offering.