March 2026 WISE Insights Newsletter
March 2026: So Lucky to Have So Much Data!
Spotlight on Data
2026 WISEdata Conference: Keynote Speakers
Data Quality Outreach
Data Errata Letters for Post-Snapshot Clean-Up
App & Web Feature
Making WISE Webpages and Applications Accessible
WISEdash Featured Sessions at the WISEdata Conference
FAFSA Completion Status Dashboard
Upcoming Data Related Events
Keynote Speakers for the 2026 WISEdata Conference
Day 1 Keynote Speaker: Ain Grooms
"Dr. Ain Grooms is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studies K-12 educational leadership and policy, with a particular focus on equity and access for students of color and students from traditionally disenfranchised communities. Her current research projects focus on whether and how educational leaders and related stakeholders in schools, districts, and states design and sustain equity-focused policies and practices. She is particularly interested in the retention of educators of color, chronic absenteeism, computer science education policy, and the development of equity-focused principal pathways." (Badger Talks)
- Topic: Chronic Absenteeism
- Date/Time: Wednesday, March 18 from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
- Location: Grand Ballroom
Day 2 Keynote Speaker: Ted Nietzke
Ted Neitzke IV is a dynamic leader, educator, and community builder whose influence spans public education, government, non-profit leadership, and organizational strategy. Known for his contagious optimism and practical wisdom, Ted has dedicated his career to helping people and organizations grow stronger, more compassionate, and more effective. As the CEO of the CESA 6 network of schools in Wisconsin, Ted leads one of the state’s most innovative educational service agencies, guiding thousands of educators and leaders to improve student learning through collaboration, coaching, and strategic planning. His work centers on empowering others—helping school systems and leaders align their purpose with meaningful action.
- Topic: Impact of Educators
- Date/Time: Thursday, March 19 from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
- Location: Grand Ballroom
Data Quality Outreach: Data Errata Letters for Post-Snapshot Clean-Up
We thank you for all the hard work and dedication to the task of presenting the most accurate data possible, both for the snapshot and beyond. LEAs are expected to continuously address data related to a validation warning or error. Correcting data in your SIS and pushing the corrected data to WISEdata Portal is best for the data for trend comparisons in the future. If you have inaccurate data that was captured in the snapshot, we have a way for you to acknowledge that.
Writing a data errata letter is the best way to explain misreported data and provide the accurate data that should have been captured in the December snapshot. A data errata letter will not change your snapshot data. Snapshot data is considered certified and final.
Posting a data errata letter, however, displays your accountability to the data submitted by your agency. Popular resources to learn more about data errata are:
- The Data Errata landing page, which is where your submitted letters are linked and displayed for public access, after they’ve been submitted through the WISEadmin Portal.
- The Snapshot Preparation Guidance webpage, Data Errata section.
There should be no personally identifiable information (PII) about students or staff in your data errata letter! Data errata letters are submitted in the WISEadmin Portal by persons with the District Admin user role.
Web & App Feature: Making WISE Webpages and Applications Accessible
April 24, 2026, is the deadline for State and local government agencies, including all public and charter schools with populations of 50,000 or more persons to meet compliance under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Special district governments and public local education agencies with a population of 49,999 or less have until April 24, 2027.
Your Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is a state government agency and, as such, we have been very busily and diligently working on meeting the criteria for Title II compliance by this deadline.
This revision was added in 2024, “requires state/local governments to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities. State/local governments can’t deny people with disabilities the chance to participate in different programs than available for others.” (https:// www.ada.gov/topics/title-ii/).
All teams, sections, bureaus, and divisions with DPI are checking their website content, ensuring that it meets the requirements set in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA Standards.
At the same time, many teams also completed a review of their web content, just like Partner Support did: streamlining and modernizing your web experience to help you find the content you need quickly. These webpage changes resulted in numerous URL changes, and we are working to ensure that all the helpful links we place in our WISE applications will bring you directly to that resource when clicked, with no obnoxious 404 broken link errors.
We encourage you to submit feedback for improvements to our website and to share your suggestions for improving our WISE applications.
WISEdash Featured Session at the 2026 WISEdata Conference
Looking to increase your WISEdash prowess?
Attend these sessions!
Getting WISE with WISEdash Basics
- Britt Mueller
- Day 1, 11:10 – 12:00
- Upper Dells Ballroom
Moving From Data to Decisions
- WISExplore Staff
- Day 1, 1:00 – 1:50 with optional workshop from 2:00 – 2:50)
- Sierra Vista Room
WISEdash Local Overview
- Shelby Renoos
- Day 1, 1:00 – 1:50
- Room G
Unlocking the Power of Cohorts in WISEdash for Districts
- WISExplore Staff
- Day 1, 3:30 – 5:00 with optional workshop from 2:00 – 2:50)
- Sierra Vista Room
WISEdash Local, Members Workshop
- Shelby Renoos
- Day 2, 2:45 – 4:00
- Room I
Upcoming Data Related Events
View the WISE Events Calendar
Training Opportunities:
WISEdata Conference: March 17, 18, & 19, 2026
Recurring Training
WISEdata New User Training: First Wednesday of the Month
- Wednesday, April 1, 2026: 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
BI-WEEKLY WISE User Group Call: EVERY OTHER Tuesday, January - May
- 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
WEEKLY WISEstaff User Group Call: EVERY Tuesday, October - March
- 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
- NOTE: WISEstaff User Group calls end on March 31, 2026, for the 2025-26 school year. WISEstaff User Group calls will resume in October 2026 for the 2026-27 school year.