Audit of Milwaukee Public Schools; Gov. Evers proposes instructional changes

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MADISON, Wis. - Gov. Tony Evers released on Friday, June 13, the second of two independent audits of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The first was released in February.

With this latest audit, the governor is proposing "nearly 40 actionable recommendations for systemic instructional changes at MPS to accelerate student outcomes and well-being," a news release says. 

MPS instructional audit

What we know:

The governor announced in 2024 that he would be providing the necessary resources to conduct two outside, independent audits of MPS. Evers directed $5.5 million to support both efforts. 

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The first audit was released in mid-February. It identified three goals for the district to achieve in the short and long term. It also offered 29 recommendations, such as restructuring the MPS central office and preventing retaliation.

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The latest audit report was released publicly on Friday. It relates to the instructional policies and methodologies at MPS, including classroom learning environments, efforts to support educators and their work in the classroom, professional development and coaching policies to provide more opportunities for educator and staff growth, and addressing external factors affecting classroom learning, among other areas. 

Dig deeper:

The second audit identifies 38 actionable recommendations for MPS:

1. Establish a focused vision for teaching and learning for MPS;
2. Create clear expectations, measurable goals, and an action plan aligned with the district’s vision; discontinue any initiatives that do not align;
3. Restructure central office roles to explicitly support the newly established vision and create robust structures for collaboration aligned to goals and action items;
4. Clarify how specialized school structures fit into the district vision and align systems and supports to maximize their impact;
5. Consolidate the number of grade configurations to allow for increased focus and collaboration across schools;
6. Set clear expectations for instructional leadership and hold principals accountable consistently across the district;
7. Restructure the principal supervision to ensure that support is focused on improving teaching and learning and cultivating an exceptional student experience;
8. Re-envision professional development for principals to prioritize instructional leadership and alignment with the district’s vision;
9. Implement a strategic staffing process to ensure that high-need and specialized schools have principals whose skill sets match school needs;
10. Consider procedures and incentives that ensure the highest-need schools are staffed and supported appropriately by highly qualified teachers;
11. Utilize data on student performance, implementation of evidence-based practices, and stakeholders’ experience to make staffing decisions;
12. Create a professional development plan that is clearly and narrowly focused on the implementation of the district’s vision and goals;
13. Prioritize job-embedded support over districtwide professional learning sessions where possible to allow for customization and ensure that professional development time is meaningful and directly applicable to teacher practice;
14. Create and protect space in teachers’ schedules for authentic, structured collaboration at least weekly and provide robust training and coaching on the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) process;
15. Generate buy-in from teachers by emphasizing the rationale and research behind key district-adopted materials;
16. Create concrete guidance for how to implement district-adopted resources, including curriculum maps, pacing guides, and clarity on the appropriate use of supplemental programs;
17. Create a realistic plan for the implementation of new curricula, including all training and support, even if that means slowing down adoption and implementation processes;
18. Implement a lesson internalization process embedded within PLCs;
19. Require all teachers, school leaders, and district leaders to complete comprehensive training in Structured Literacy;
20. Create clear guidance for schools and teachers to implement Structured Literacy, including timing, pacing, use of resources, and guidance for tier I, tier II, and tier III instruction;
21. Align systems to support the implementation of Structured Literacy, including modeling and coaching, walkthrough protocols, PLCs using Aimsweb data, and intervention structures;
22. Create systems at the district level to hold all schools accountable to high expectations that are clearly aligned to the district vision;
23. Create systems for communication, including clear norms for how and when information is shared, from senior leadership to school-based staff, that empower staff and promote collaboration;
24. Systematically identify, celebrate, and analyze successes so that best practices can be shared across the district;
25. Revisit enrollment procedures for schools that offer specialized opportunities (e.g., Montessori, Bilingual Dual Language, IB, STEM, Fine Arts, etc.) to ensure equitable access for all students;
26. Reprioritize funding and/or partner with community organizations to supplement extracurricular opportunities in schools that do not currently have robust options for their students;
27. Create a districtwide vision for positive student culture and evidence-based disciplinary practices;
28. Support all staff in collectively implementing foundational routines and strategies for proactive classroom and school management;
29. Collaborate with school staff about the process for addressing serious behavior incidents and clearly communicate the rationale for consequences that are aligned with the district vision;
30. Consider structural and policy changes at the district level to address disparities in suspensions, including grade configuration and resource allocation;
31. Create a vision and set measurable goals for family partnership and advocacy in MPS that are aligned with evidence-based best practices;
32. Clarify the Parent Coordinator role and set clear expectations for their work;
33. Provide training for staff aligned to the district’s vision and focused on evidence-based strategies for family engagement;
34. Build systems to seek authentic feedback from families on focused topics and clearly communicate how feedback is implemented;
35. Fully leverage Parent Engagement Organizations and the District Advisory Council in strategic planning;
36. Provide training and guidance for teachers focused on building relationships with families and fostering two-way communication;
37. Set clear, measurable goals for family engagement at the school and district level and collect data to monitor progress and identify successes; and
38. Create a PLC structure for Parent Coordinators to monitor school goals, brainstorm solutions to tough challenges, and amplify strategies that are proven to be effective.

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