Grade Level Placement

Grade Level Placement: WISEdata Portal/WISEstaff/School Directory

Grade level is the level of the educational program studied by a student. For staff, the Grade Level value refers to all course levels performed by teaching staff for an assignment and doesn't necessarily coordinate to the students' grade levels. Grade levels are defined by state statute §115.01(2). A student may only be counted in one grade level placement on any given date.

When grade level changes during a period of enrollment, report the grade level at the time of exit. For students who are in multi-age classrooms, consider how the curriculum taught best fits into the traditional grade structure. Exception: for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, record the grade to which children of the same age would be assigned if that school applied a traditional grade structure.

USES: This data element is required for Choice and public schools.For public reporting purposes, data will be aggregated by grade level placement. Year-to-year changes in grade level placement in the same district will be used in public reporting of grade advancement/retention rates. Grade advancement/retention and habitual truancy are not publicly reported for students at the KG/K4 grade levels, or for students receiving PK services. Dropouts are not publicly reported for students at the K4/KG-6 grade levels. Grade level placement is also used in the generation of Wisconsin Student Assessment System (WSAS) roster files and, for instructors, in Licensing, Educator Advancement and Development (LEAD) licensing audits.

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Below Compulsory Age Notes: Students Aged 3, 4, and 5

Grades are defined by state statute §115.01(2). As per this statute, nomenclatures like K3 and PK do not indicate a grade level. Wisconsin is a local control state. Districts have the authority to create, provide, and name the educational options, programs, and services that they want within state law and local guidance. Many of these educational options, programs, and services are provided to students who are below compulsory school age. Compulsory age for school in the state of Wisconsin is six (6). This DPI document provides detailed information about compulsory school attendance enforcement.

Many LEAs consider it ‘best practice’ to create student records for students participating in their educational options, programs, and services within their Student Information System (SIS) based on their local guidance.

Not all local records created within a SIS need to be submitted to DPI. DPI requires LEAs to provide data to satisfy mandated reporting requirements. These records are determined by state and federal regulations.

PK

PK is a code. It will no longer display as a grade level within the majority of our WISE application because PK is a required education service.

The code PK is used in WISEdata Portal to refer to students who meet all of the following criteria:

• have not reached the age for first grade (aged 3, 4 or 5), and
• are not enrolled in K4 or KG, and
• have an individual education plan (IEP), and

   

• receive primary educational services from the LEA/Agency.

Even though PK is not a grade, PK is not optional because of its defining criteria. Students who are annotated with the code PK have not reached the age for first grade (aged 3, 4 or 5), and are not enrolled in K4 or KG, have an individual education plan (IEP), and receive primary educational services from the LEA/Agency.

Public school districts that have elementary schools are obligated by both federal and state legislature to become FAPE responsible for students requiring the continuation of IEP and special education services who have exited County (CCDEB) services.

Students who have an IEP are not in a “program.” If they have an IEP, they receive special education supports and services. In terms of students with IEPS who receive a PK service, this could include students who are aged 3, 4, or 5 because they can still receive special education services without needing to be enrolled in a four-year-old or five-year-old kindergarten grade.

Any school that offers kindergarten (KG or K4) as a low grade by default must also offer PK services.

PK records that must be reported to WDP must meet all of the PK Criteria:

• regardless of participation in other programs (e.g., Head Start) and
• regardless of enrollment in a grade (i.e., students do not need to be enrolled in a grade to get reported as PK to WISEdata Portal).

Guidelines for Submitting PK Student Records

1. Do Submit These PK Records: Students in PK have not reached the age for first grade (age 3, 4, or5), and are not enrolled in K4 or KG, and have an IEP, and receive primary educational services from the district. PK students will need to have student special education program association (sSEPA) records submitted to WISEdata Portal. PK students must not be enrolled in a grade for these support records to be submitted.
2. Do Not Submit: Records for students who are below compulsory age (age 3, 4, or 5), not yet enrolled in kindergarten (KG or K4) who do not have an IEP attending a preschool option. See the accordion section below for more details on preschool.

SIS to DPI Requirements for PK Reporting:

When a student has an initial (Indicator 11) evaluation done, but doesn't have a school enrollment yet, a Responsibility Record is sent in lieu of the enrollment record until such time as the evaluation is complete and the student is determined to have qualified for SpEd services. For example, students below compulsory school attendance age (0-3) whose evaluation is completed for under three years of age program.

Vendors must have either an enrollment record or a responsibility record in order to send the SPED initial evaluation (IND 11).

This applies ONLY when the code is PK. When PK is the code being used to annotate the student receiving services, the Responsibility Type should also indicate SPED Initial Evaluation.

The Responsibility Type should also indicate SPED Initial Evaluation, as this is the only available response, and it is a required field.

The value “PK” will remain listed under ‘grades’ for WISEdata Portal/Ed-Fi to assist in this collection, even though PK is not defined as a grade. WDP has created a validation message (Error 6376) to trigger when a record is submitted for a PK student without an IEP, to flag that record. These PK records are visible on a Student Detail screen in WDP.

WISEdata Portal PK Validation Message:

WDP has created a validation message (Error 6376) to trigger and flag when a record is submitted for a PK student without an IEP.

This validation flag causes LEAs a lot of confusion.

LEAs can create a record within their SIS on any students they service.

DPI does not have any state or federal legislation requiring PK records for students without IEPs.

WISEdash for Districts, WISEdash Public Portal:

Our WISE applications are bound by the logic their code is built upon. For this reason, PK will still appear labeled as a ‘grade’ in WISEdash. The changes required to make WISEdash display consistently are not feasible for DPI at this time, but long-term plans are in place to update WISEdash so that it displays consistently with other WISE applications. The explanations given earlier in this section describe and define PK as a code and clarify by backing state statute to reinforce that it is not a grade. We understand that these contradictions are confusing and frustrating. We appreciate your flexibility and encourage you to reach out to us by submitting a Help Ticket if you have questions about WISEdash or WISEdata.

Preschool

Preschool is not a grade. There are no Wisconsin educational state statutes defining preschool, but by using the prefix ‘pre-’, the word “preschool” means ‘before school,’ and in Wisconsin, as per §115.01(2), school begins in kindergarten (either four-year-old kindergarten (K4) or five-year old-kindergarten (KG)).

Other names used by LEAs for preschool programming purposes are:

• day care,

• childcare,

• K3**,

• Head Start (NOTE: Not all Head Start students are public school/ICS students.),

• Early Childhood Special Education for three-year-olds (EC3) and Early Childhood Special Education for four-year-olds (EC4).

Preschool may also refer to a location in which school services are provided. According to the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (fifth edition) publication on page 126:

“All Public elementary schools include 5-year-old kindergarten and may include 4-year-old kindergarten programs. Recently, 4-year-old kindergarten programs have seen a dramatic increase. Typically, these programs have been in public school buildings. An increased number of school districts have initiated community-based approaches through partnerships that bring 4- and 5-year-old kindergarten programs into childcare, preschool, or Head Start center settings. In these locations, licensed teachers may still have separate kindergarten classrooms, may team-teach in a blended program, or teach through other arrangements.”

**K3: Starting with the 2024-25 School Year, K3 students without IEPs will not need to be reported to WISEdata. K3 is not a grade as defined by Wisconsin state statute. K3 is a moniker used only in certain school/districts, such as Milwaukee Public Schools and select independent charter schools. Students who meet all criteria for use of the PK code in a K3 program may be reported using the code PK. PK criteria means:

• student has not reached the age for first grade (aged 3, 4 or 5), and 
• is not enrolled in K4 or KG, and 
• has an individual education plan (IEP), and 
• is receiving primary educational services from the LEA/Agency.

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Elementary Grade Level Descriptions and Notes:

Grades are defined by state statute §115.01(2). Grades in Wisconsin begin in kindergarten.

Kindergarten

As per §115.01(2), Kindergarten in Wisconsin is defined as four-year-old kindergarten (K4) and five-year-old kindergarten (KG).

Four-Year-Old Kindergarten (K4):

Students in K4 must be four years old on or before September 1 in the year that the student proposes to enter school. (See Section 118.14, Wis. Stats.)

K4 students who are located in a private school/private day care center under a contract with the Local Education Agency (school district): These students should be reported by the public district. These K4 students should NOT be counted by the private school in any reporting to DPI; this includes private schools participating in a Choice program. For Choice schools, note the implication that if the Choice school has opted in to reporting all students and if they track K4 students under contract in their SIS, then Choice schools need to prevent these K4 public students from being reported to WISEdata. In such a scenario, the Choice school should contact their SIS vendor to learn how to withhold or withdraw records from WISEdata Portal.

Five-Year-Old Kindergarten (KG):

Unless early admission criteria under Section 120.12(25), Wis. Stats. are met, students in KG (five-year-old kindergarten) must be five years old on or before September 1 in the year he or she proposes to enter school.

Schools that offer KG but NOT K4 must provide PK services based on state and federal mandates.

Grade 1

Students at Grade 1 must be six years old on or before September 1 in the year he or she proposes to enter school. (See Section 118.14, Wis. Stats.)

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High School Grade Level Descriptions and Notes:

Districts are free to establish, for local purposes, separate grade level placement standards lower than the above listed 'minimum threshold credits-earned' numbers from grades 10 through 12 as long as grade level placement data submitted for DPI data collection purposes are consistent with the 'minimum threshold credits-earned' numbers in the table shown in this section. Districts may establish additional or more rigorous requirements for placement at grades 10 through 12 and use these requirements for DPI data collection purposes.

Grades 10-12

For grades 10 through 12, grade level placement is based on accumulation of the minimum number of credits specified in the table above. The assumption is that each year a student would accumulate at least one fourth of the credits required to graduate. To be reported as beginning a specific grade, a student may have a deficit of credits not greater than one-seventh (1/7) of the expected credit accumulation towards the district's high school graduation requirements. For example, a student with 7.0 credits as of the beginning of the fall semester could be reported at up to the 10th grade level at that time. Districts may establish additional or more rigorous requirements for placement at grades 10 through 12 and use these requirements for DPI data collection purposes.

Grade 10: The number of credits earned must at least equal one fourth of the credits required for graduation minus one seventh the credits required for graduation. Districts may establish additional or more rigorous requirements for placement at each grade.

• If graduation requirements is represented by “G”, then:
• Minimum credits earned = (G/4) - (G/7)

Grade 11: The number of credits earned must at least equal half of the credits required for graduation minus one seventh the credits required for graduation. Districts may establish additional or more rigorous requirements for placement at each grade.

• If graduation requirements is represented by “G”, then:
• Minimum credits earned = (G/2) - (G/7)

Grade 12: The number of credits earned must at least equal three fourths of the credits required for graduation minus one seventh the credits required for graduation. Districts may establish additional or more rigorous requirements for placement at each grade.

• If graduation requirements is represented by “G”, then:
• Minimum credits earned = (G x 0.75) - (G/7)

DPI Recommendations for Reporting Grade Level Placement for High School Students

These are DPI recommendations. (Exception: For students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, record the grade to which children of the same age would be assigned if that school applied a traditional grade structure.)

f the number of credits required for graduation is:	Then the minimum number of credits earned by the student for advancement to the specified grade must at least equal the following:
	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
21	2.2	7.5	12.7
22	2.3	7.8	13.3
23	2.4	8.2	13.9
24	2.5	8.5	14.5
25	2.6	8.9	15.1
26	2.7	9.2	15.7
27	2.8	9.6	16.3
28	3.0	10.0	17.0

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FAQs, Details, and Points to Note

1. Valid Grade Level Codes: The following codes are valid to be submitted for WISEdata and School Directory: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, KG, K4.

   1. PK: see above section for details about the PK code.

   2. NOTE: Only submit records for a student in PK when all of the following conditions are true:

      • Students in PK have not reached the age for first grade (age 3, 4, or5), and

      • are not enrolled in K4 or KG, and

      • have an IEP, and

      • receive primary educational services from the district.

   3. More granular grade level codes (e.g., EC3 and EC4) may be collected by other DPI teams, such as DPI Food and Nutrition.

2. One Grade Level: Each student may have only one grade level placement at any given point in time.
3. School Directory: Grade level placement must be consistent with the grade range submitted for the school in the School Directory application. GRADE ORDER: K4, KG, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12. If the grade range reported in the School Directory application is incorrect, district staff authorized for School Directory Management Portal application can revise the grade range. After grade ranges for schools become final in January for the current school year, changes can no longer be made.
4. Students with Disabilities: Grade level placement of students with disabilities may be based on chronological age in the case of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who may have grade level achievement standards that are different from those that apply to other students.
5. Disability & Retention: For public reporting purposes, students with disabilities at grade 12 will not be counted as retentions if they continue at grade 12 for multiple years prior to high school completion.
6. Date Determination: Grade level placement is determined as of a specific date. For WISEdata count date records, that date is the count date. For other WISEdata collections, that date is the exit date from the school or the end of the school term, whichever occurs first. If the student was promoted on the exit date, then submit the grade level placement in effect just prior to promotion.
7. Foreign Exchange Students: For WISEdata inclusion purposes, we do not distinguish between students participating in foreign exchange programs and other students. All foreign exchange students must be placed in the appropriate grade as determined by acquisition of credits. However, schools must check the visa type and then submit a new data element, Visa Type, for all foreign exchange students. If the district does not know the visa type, then they must provide the visa type of F.  In general, foreign exchange students are expected to be working toward a Regular Wisconsin Diploma. Note, foreign exchange students holding a J-1 visa are here for cultural exchange, and DPI cannot report J-1 visa holders as graduates.
8. WISEstaff Grade Levels: The grades reported in WISEstaff are not necessarily the grades of the students but the grades of the courses the instructors are teaching. DPI now only supports the method to store all applicable grade levels in a single string of grades in a two-digit format each separated by a semicolon, for example "PK;K4;KG;01;02;03;04;05;06;07;08;09;10;11;12". Zero padding at the start of the field is optional, and it has a 60 character max.
   • This value is required for positions 51, 52, 53, 54, 80, 83, and 84. 
   • Users can see a Grades Required “Gr” column on the Assignment Code List to help determine if they need to report grades for an assignment.

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