Tuesday, July 15, 2025
July 2025: Already Half-Way Through 2025!
Announcements: New Team Name and WISEdata Conference, Save the Date!
Customer Services Team is Now: Partner Support
The Customer Services Team has been renamed. We are now the Partner Support Team! You’ll see our new name and acronym (PS instead of CST) steadily changing across our webpages, but you will still see and hear the same friendly people on the WISE User Groups calls and at the WISEdata Conference.
Our collaborating team for this newsletter, Data Warehouse and Decision Support, is keeping the same name.
WISEdata Conference, 2026
Save the Date! The 11th annual WISEdata Conference will be held March 17 – 19, 2026, at the Chula Vista Resort! Visit the WISEdata Conference webpage to keep up on our ever-growing content for the 2026 event!
We also encourage you to please take the ‘Attendee Voice’ pre-conference survey. Your feedback will shape the session content, food options, and logistics for the 2026 WISEdata Conference. The survey closes Friday, August 1, 2025. Thank you so much for your valuable input!
Spotlight on Strong Data: Recent Communications
Consortium Charter Schools / Multi-District Charter Schools
On June 11, DPI sent a communication about and for Charter School Consortium Districts and their partnering districts.
This communication links to a number of key webpages for charter schools, along with a link to the “Consortium Charter School Cheat Sheet.” The ‘cheat sheet’ outlines the general structures, roles, and responsibilities of school districts participating in a consortium charter school (i.e., multi-district charter school).
Upcoming Communication for 2025-26 Back to School
Stay tuned for our 2025-26 Back to School communication, set to send on Tuesday, July 22.
You can keep track of all the communications related to WISE Insights topics in our Notification Portal, listed in chronological order by the sent date.
Data Quality Tip: For LEAs Considering a SIS Change
Thinking about changing your SIS vendor?
Now is the time!
Visit the SIS Conversion Guidance webpage for great information.
Also be sure to submit a WISE Help Ticket, so Partner Support can assist your SIS transition and help keep your data flowing to DPI.
App Feature: WISExplore
Looking to make this school year even more impactful?
WISExplore provides tools, guided processes, and practical resources that help schools and districts use data with purpose.
From identifying trends to supporting continuous improvement, WISExplore empowers educators to turn data into meaningful action. As you analyze English Learner data—like the ACCESS results explored in the article below—consider how WISExplore can support conversations that lead to stronger systems and more responsive practices.
To get started, contact your local CESA data specialist or explore the resources on the DPI WISExplore webpage.
WISEdash Featured Dashboard: Exploring ACCESS for ELLs to Inform Systems and Practices
Each year, school districts receive ACCESS for ELLs results, valuable data that reflects the English language proficiency growth of multilingual learners across Wisconsin. These results are more than just a compliance measure; they are essential tools for evaluating student progress, identifying patterns, and shaping effective instructional programming for English learners (ELs).
As you review your district’s ACCESS results this year, consider these guiding questions:
- What trends do you notice in students’ English language proficiency by grade level, student group, or years in program?
- Are ELs making expected gains in proficiency across multiple years?
- How are long-term ELs performing, and what might this indicate about program supports?
- Are students on track for exiting EL status, and how does this compare to statewide expectations?
ACCESS Results Overview in WISEdash for Districts
You can begin your analysis by visiting the ACCESS dashboard in WISEdash for Districts, ACCESS Results by Subgroup. The first chart displays overall performance levels which can be viewed for All students or use the Group by filter: grade level. Students are placed into one of six performance levels:
- Entering
- Beginning
- Developing
- Expanding
- Bridging
- Reaching
For current ELs, their ELP code (1-5) reflects their level of English proficiency, with 1 indicating minimal proficiency and 5 representing near proficiency. Students who have exited EL status are assigned an ELP code of 6, indicating full English proficiency.
The next chart displays the Overall Average Scale Score by grade level, while the final visual on this dashboard is the ACCESS Results by Subgroup Crosstab, a powerful tool for deeper analysis.
Dynamic Crosstabs: Dig Deeper
Using the ACCESS Results by Subgroup Crosstab, try setting the “Years in ELL” as columns and “grade” as rows. (TIP! Use the arrows next to “Years in ELL” to sort values in order from 0-13.)
Generally, students are expected to progress through ELL services within 4-6 years. This view helps you see trends and identify students who may be in EL services beyond that range, indicating a need for additional review or support. If you have access to student-level data, the numbers in this chart are drillable, allowing you to view individual students for deeper analysis.
When reviewing EL programming, consider:
To what degree are ELs making gains in proficiency? Use the chart on page 9 in Chapter 5 in the EL Policy Handbook for guidance.
What other data do we collect to validate these findings? Use Chapter 15 of the EL Policy Handbook, using 15a Observational and 15b Artifacts for additional information on the Multiple Indicator Protocol.
Looking at Trends Over Time
To see performance over multiple years, use the ACCESS Performance Categories dashboard. This dashboard provides:
- Overall performance trends by year
- Performance by ACCESS testing domain (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing)
Also try the ACCESS results - All Subgroups dashboard, which allows you to disaggregate data by student groups without applying filters.
Visit the WISEdash for Districts: ACCESS Dashboard webpage for information about the data.
ACCESS Growth and Longitudinal Analysis
The ACCESS Growth dashboard is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of EL programming. This dashboard is updated later in the summer after growth projections can be calculated. This dashboard shows:
- Overall Growth levels
- Growth by school statewide
- Growth by school within your district
- Crosstab chart to explore different data intersections
The ACCESS Current and Former EL dashboard is also updated later to provide additional insights into long-term progress and support needs.
For users with individual student access, drilling into a student’s progress over time and on-track status can inform both instructional decisions and support planning.
Need Support?
See the two documents on the WIDA ACCESS Data and Reporting page for more information on finding and using EL data in WISEdash for Districts.
Every CESA in Wisconsin has qualified data specialists available to support you with ACCESS data analysis. Whether you need help interpreting results, planning programming, or designing custom dashboard views, your CESA Data Specialist can provide:
- Coaching
- Professional learning
- Customized district support
Learn more when you visit the WISExplore Coaching and Additional Support webpage.
Upcoming Events
Back to School Training:
- WISE Back to School, New User Training
- Tuesday, August 19; 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- WISE Back to School Kickoff Training
- Thursday, August 21; 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
- WISEdash for Beginners Training
- Tuesday, August 26; 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
- WISEdash for Intermediate Users Training
- Thursday, August 28; 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Recurring Training:
- Summer WISE User Group Call: 2nd Tuesday of the Month
- Tuesday, August 12, 2025: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
- WISEdata New User Training: First Wednesday of the Month
- Wednesday, August 6, 2025: 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Upcoming WISEdata Events
3/10/26
3/10/26
Return to WISE Insights Landing page
Data Milestones
School Year Close-Out Tasks
DPI recommends completing school year close-out tasks before collecting data for the new school year.
Review the Annual Tasks Checklist webpage, School Year Close-Out section for greater detail.
School Year Calendar End Date
DPI closes each annual school year on June 30. July 1, 2025, was the first day of the 2025-26 school year.