Thursday, September 25, 2025
Milwaukee Public Schools’ results on 2024–25 state assessments demonstrate the clear need for the district’s new literacy plan and its emphasis on high-quality support and professional learning for educators, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced today.
The plan is currently being implemented and includes 40 hours of dedicated training during the 2025–26 school year to help all teachers become experts in the science of reading. Aligned to recent state legislation, the new literacy plan shifts from a focus on intervening with struggling students to providing high-quality literacy instruction to all students from the very start. Teaching techniques also shift from older tools such as “3 cueing,” which allows students to guess at words based on pictures and contexts, to an intentional focus on “decoding” words by sounding them out.
“These test scores are far below what our students, families, and the community deserve,” Dr. Cassellius said. “We believe that all students can read, and literacy opens the door to learning in all other subjects. Our educators will use the district’s new literacy plan to help us drive stronger achievement.”
Test results show no universal change across all subject areas.
Math scores increased slightly, but English, science, and social studies performance did not change significantly. English proficiency ranged from 19% at grades 9–10 to 29% at grades 7–8. Math proficiency ranged from 14% at grade 10 to 24% at grade 3. Wide gaps remain between Black and White students, as well as between students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities. Longer-term comparisons are not possible because revisions to the Forward Exam occurred and proficiency levels were updated in 2023–24. Note: The state uses scoring that differs from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, so these scores are also not directly comparable.
Dr. Cassellius noted that some initial results from the literacy plan’s work could come in the next set of test results from this school year; however, more meaningful impacts are likely to come in the next two to three years.
To see more about the district's plan — including a video podcast — visit the literacy page on the MPS website.