The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Wisconsin schools

In Wisconsin, 17.5% of Black students are proficient in math at the typical school — against 59.2% of White students. That 41.7-point gap is among the widest of any state here. Within Milwaukee alone, the spread between schools is 48 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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38.7%
All students
19.7%
Black
33.8%
Hispanic
59.5%
White
51.2%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical Wisconsin school. Groups are shown wherever Wisconsin reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from Forward Exam 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 50 districts, 309 Wisconsin schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Wisconsin school the picture is black students at 19.7%, hispanic students at 33.8%, white students at 59.5% and asian students at 51.2%. That is a 39.8-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Wisconsin data shows

Landscape
49.8 pts

separates Black and White students in Wisconsin math

The widest gap of any state on this site. 15.0% of Black students are proficient, against 64.8% of White students. Reading is 43.4 points — also the widest here.

Disparity
47.6 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Milwaukee

Milwaukee College Preparatory reaches 47.6%. Clarke Street Elementary, in the same district, reports 0%. Across 76 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Opportunity
41.6 %

at Golda Meir School in Milwaukee, across 620 Black student results

The largest Black student population among Wisconsin's stronger schools. Brown Deer Elementary leads the state at 45.6% across 329 results.

Where Black students are doing best in Wisconsin

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Bayside MiddleFox Point J2 88.9% 63.3% 81.2% 91.2%
Swanson ElementaryElmbrook 79.7% 53.3% 81.1% 82.4% 83.8%
Kennedy MiddleGermantown 65.5% 51.6% 56.5% 67.4% 78.7%
Marcy ElementaryHamilton 83.7% 50% 85.7% 90.8%
Lake Shore MiddleMequon-Thiensville 77.9% 50% 63.3% 79.1% 86%
Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- 36th Street CampusMilwaukee Charter 42.5% 47.6%
Brown Deer ElementaryBrown Deer 52.1% 45.6% 50% 73.1% 54%
Shorewood IntermediateShorewood 75.1% 44.2% 65.2% 80.8% 90.6%
Forest Park MiddleFranklin Public 71.4% 44.1% 53.8% 72.5% 88.7%
North MiddleMenomonee Falls 64.6% 42.9% 48.7% 69.6% 70.1%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Metcalfe ElementaryMilwaukee 2.3% 0%
Hi-Mount ElementaryMilwaukee 2.9% 0%
Franklin ElementaryMilwaukee 5.4% 0%
Clarke Street ElementaryMilwaukee 3.1% 0%
Lowell ElementaryMadison Metropolitan 54.9% 0% 37.5% 76.2%
Fifty-Third Street ElementaryMilwaukee 5.7% 1%
Clemens ElementaryMilwaukee 7.2% 1%
Merrill ElementaryBeloit 4.4% 1% 16.7% 0%
King International Baccalaureate MiddleMilwaukee 3.4% 1.3%
Cass Street ElementaryMilwaukee 8.3% 1.9%

One district, two outcomes

In Milwaukee, Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- 36th Street Campus reports 47.6% of Black students meeting the standard. Clarke Street Elementary, in the same district, reports 0%. That is a 47.6-point spread across 76 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Wisconsin districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Milwaukee — 76 schools, 12.3% average
Madison Metropolitan — 29 schools, 13.6% average
Racine Unified — 15 schools, 12.9% average
Kenosha — 13 schools, 19.6% average
Green Bay Area Public — 10 schools, 18% average
Beloit — 7 schools, 13.2% average
Sun Prairie Area — 7 schools, 17.9% average
Oshkosh Area — 6 schools, 6.6% average
Wauwatosa — 6 schools, 28.9% average
West Allis-West Milwaukee — 5 schools, 20.8% average
Fond du Lac — 4 schools, 27.3% average
Menomonee Falls — 3 schools, 41.3% average
Middleton-Cross Plains Area — 3 schools, 27.8% average
Shorewood — 3 schools, 34.1% average
Appleton Area — 2 schools, 13.4% average
Brown Deer — 2 schools, 39.9% average
Germantown — 2 schools, 35.5% average
Glendale-River Hills — 2 schools, 24.9% average
Janesville — 2 schools, 19.4% average
Menasha Joint — 2 schools, 14.6% average
Mequon-Thiensville — 2 schools, 41.6% average
Monona Grove — 2 schools, 17% average
One City Schools Inc — 2 schools, 14.3% average
Sheboygan Area — 2 schools, 18.1% average
Waukesha — 2 schools, 14.6% average
Woodlands School Inc — 2 schools, 20.6% average
Adeline Montessori School Inc — 1 schools, 3.4% average
Ashwaubenon — 1 schools, 33.3% average
Barron Area — 1 schools, 32.1% average
Central City Cyberschool of Milwaukee Inc — 1 schools, 18.5% average
Darrell L Hines Academy Inc — 1 schools, 12.5% average
Elmbrook — 1 schools, 53.3% average
Fox Point J2 — 1 schools, 63.3% average
Franklin Public — 1 schools, 44.1% average
Greendale — 1 schools, 32.1% average
Hamilton — 1 schools, 50% average
La Crosse — 1 schools, 5.6% average
Manitowoc — 1 schools, 3.8% average
McFarland — 1 schools, 9.7% average
Milwaukee Math and Science Academy Inc — 1 schools, 5.6% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Wisconsin schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure Forward Exam 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Wisconsin suppresses results for groups with too few students tested. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 309 of Wisconsin's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Wisconsin's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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