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From the WINSS home page, click on the red "Data Analysis" ribbon.
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The next screen is a search screen. To view school or district data, fill in one of the boxes on the right. Type in a whole name or a part of a name. Next click on the "GO" button. If you have trouble finding your school or district, try typing in a part of the name, click on the first letter of the name, OR click on a CESA.
The database should return a list of schools or districts. Each school or district name is a hyperlink that will take you to pages where you can click on questions you want answered.
Data are organized according to four main questions:
| How well are students performing academically? | Here you'll find data about whether students are meeting academic standards: test scores, grade advancement / retention, ACT, Advanced Placement Program Exams, graduation / high school completion, postgraduation plans and more. | |
| What programs, staff, and money are available? | Here you'll find data about school programs and resources that may have an impact on the success of students: course offerings and school-supported activities, staffing patterns, teacher qualifications, district revenue, district costs, and more. | |
| What about attendance and behavior at school? | Here you'll find data about standards of the heart and student behaviors that affect their success academically: attendance, truancy, student participation in school-supported activities, coursetaking, suspension rates, expulsion rates, weapon or drug related incidents, other infractions or offenses, dropouts, and more. | |
| What are student/school demographics? | Here you'll find data about student diversity which may have an impact on strategies and programs to help all students meet standards: enrollment by grade, gender, race/ethnicity, English language proficiency, disability status, primary disability, poverty status, and more. |
After you click on one of the four main questions you will need to select a subquestion. You will then see a page with a graph and table that include the most current available data about that subquestion. Above the graph or table there is a set of user options. See Figure 1 for the typical set of user options.
Figure 1. Graph and Table Options
- "Year" options allow you to focus on data for any specific year you choose. "Year" options appear unless "Compare To: Prior Years" is selected.
- "School Type" or "Grade" options allow you to view or compare data for elementary, middle, and high school grades or grade ranges. Most District and State data pages have at least one of these sets of options. Some School pages have a "Grade" options row.
- "View By" options allow you to view or compare data about performance and behavior by student group. Student data pages typically have these options.
- "Compare To" options allow you to see trends over time, find out what is typical districtwide, statewide, or nationwide, and how other schools like or near your school are doing.
- Additional options, e.g. "Subject" or "Level", appear depending on the subquestion.
Figure 2.Navigation Between Schools and Useful Information
To change graph/table options, select one of the active links in any row above the graph (Figure 1). To focus on a different school or district, switch organizational levels, or better understand the graphs and tables, select one of the options in the red column to the left of the graph. See Figure 2. Here you'll find a "Change school or district" link that takes you to the school search screen, "District/School home page" links that direct you to a wide range of information maintained by your school or district, a "Read about the data" link that explains how data were collected and how rates are calculated, a "Glossary" link that defines terms used on the page, and a "Download options" link that provides information about how to access and use WINSS download files. Also included are links to special features, if any, for this subquestion.
Below the graph and table are links to other DPI-sponsored reports for your school or district and to raw data files. See Figure 3. Reports include your school's "Adequate Yearly Progress Report", "School District Performance Report", and the "Special Education District Profile". You can download any or all data on WINSS for any specific WINSS subquestion for the "Year" you select by clicking on "Download raw data from this page" or "Download all school and district data statewide".
Figure 3. Links to Other District/School Reports and to Download Files
| To return to the four main questions, click on the red "Data Analysis" ribbon in the upper right-hand corner of each page. |  |  |
WINSS data have distinct limits so you are encouraged to click on the links to district and school home pages on the upper left for more information about the school or district. You may also want to review other sources of school information.
See also:
Data Topics A Through Z
Frequently Asked Questions About the Data Analysis Section
Using WINSS to find test results for your school
WINSS Data Download Options
Why are data for some student groups not reported?
WINSS Analytical Tools: Scatterplots (WSAS, teacher quality), Similar Schools/Districts
What's New
We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions about WINSS.
Email: winss@dpi.wi.gov.