Academic Standards

What are academic standards?

The District’s academic standards identify what students should know and be able to do within a given content area or subject. Standards serve as goals and guideposts for both classroom instruction and student learning. The standards also help parents and students gain a better understanding of the District’s expectations for student learning.

Academic standards provide a critical foundation and framework for the District’s sequential curriculum plans and for the District’s student assessments in each content area. However, the standards are not an actual classroom curriculum. The curriculum that the District’s schools implement in the various content areas remains flexible and adaptable, and there are many different instructional techniques and activities that could all be consistent with the District’s academic standards. Stated another way, academic standards attempt to identify and focus on the most essential and fundamental aspects of student learning, but they do not attempt to describe all that can or should be taught. A great deal is left to the discretion of curriculum developers and teachers. In addition, the District’s adoption and use of academic standards should not be confused with standardized testing of students. While the District implements various state and federal testing mandates and also implements various locally-selected student assessments, the District’s academic standards do not mandate the use of any specific standardized test or assessment.

This notice is issued pursuant to section 120.12(13) of the state statutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the District have academic standards?

State law requires all school districts, charter schools, and certain private schools to adopt academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history. In addition, the School Board and the District’s administrative team believe that identifying and implementing a set of District-wide academic standards in various content areas is highly beneficial to staff, students, and parents.

What are the academic standards that will be in effect during this school year?

State law requires the District to provide the parents and guardians of all enrolled students with notice of the academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history that have been adopted by the School Board and that will be in effect during each school year. Accordingly, the District academic standards that will be in effect in these specific content areas for this school year are listed below. Electronic links to the detailed version of the applicable standards are provided when available.

An asterisk (*) after the content area denotes the subjects which receive annual review by the Board of Education.

Content Area / Subject	The District’s Student Academic Standards
Art & Design Education	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Art & Design Education. View a complete copy of these standards.
Business and Information Technology	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Business and Information Technology. View a complete copy of these standards.
Computer Science	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Computer Science. View a complete copy of these standards.
Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS)	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for WMELS. View a complete copy of these standards.
English Language Arts (includes reading and writing)*	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for English Language Arts, based on Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. View a complete copy of these standards.
Family and Consumer Sciences	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences. View a complete copy of these standards.
Health Education	The District has adopted the national SHAPE standards, aligned with the Wisconsin Standards for Health Education. View a complete copy of the SHAPE standards and the Wisconsin standards.
Health Science	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Health Science. View a complete copy of these standards.
Information and Technology Literacy	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Information and Technology Literacy. View a complete copy of these standards.
Marketing, Management, and Entrepreneurship	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Marketing, Management, and Entrepreneurship. View a complete copy of these standards.
Mathematics*	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Math, based on Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. View a complete copy of these standards.
Music Education	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Music Education. View a complete copy of these standards.
Personal Finance Literacy	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Personal Finance Literacy. View a complete copy of these standards.
Physical Education	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Physical Education. View a complete copy of these standards.
Science*	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Science, aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. View a complete copy of the WSS and NGSS standards.
Social Studies (includes geography and history)*	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies. The five strands of the social studies standards encompass history, geography, behavioral science, economics, and political science along with an overarching inquiry arc across all of the strands. View a complete copy of these standards.
Technology and Engineering	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Technology and Engineering. View a complete copy of these standards.
World Language	The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for World Language. View a complete copy of these standards.

Content Area / Subject

The District’s Student Academic Standards

Art & Design Education

The District has adopted the Wisconsin Standards for Art & Design Education.

Academic Standards

What are academic standards?

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