Wilson Middle, Appleton WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Wilson Middle

Wilson Middle is a regular public school in Appleton, Wisconsin, serving seventh and eighth graders as part of the Appleton Area School District. The school sits in a city that has grown from its industrial and educational roots into a broadly diversified economy, with major employers in healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, retail, and education. Appleton’s downtown along College Avenue functions as a regional entertainment and cultural hub, supported by venues such as the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and the Trout Museum of Art, along with a network of parks and trails. The city’s civic life integrates Lawrence University just off the downtown core, and the area has a strong sense of place, but the available public records did not detail recent housing development or major new projects.

The school’s enrollment is moderate for a two-grade middle school, and the student body reflects a racially and economically diverse mix. White students make up the largest share, followed by Asian, Hispanic, Black, multiracial, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students. A substantial majority of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a measure of low-income eligibility.

Wilson Middle participates in Wisconsin’s Forward assessment for English language arts, math, science, and social studies. In the most recent testing period, proficiency rates across all subjects and grade levels tested sat well below a majority threshold. The strongest showing was in eighth-grade social studies, where just under half of students met proficiency standards, while the weakest was in sixth-grade math and sixth-grade English language arts, where about a third of students were proficient. Seventh- and eighth-grade English language arts and math results also remained below half. Science proficiency for eighth graders was about the same as those lower math and reading figures. Participation rates on the assessments were high, indicating that the results represent nearly all enrolled students in those grades.

When compared with other districts across Outagamie County, Wilson Middle’s overall proficiency composite fell into the bottom quarter. No state or county data were available for chronic absenteeism or graduation rates; the latter is not applicable for a middle school, and the former was simply not reported. The school’s test results suggest that most students are not meeting the state’s proficiency benchmarks in core subjects, a pattern that families may wish to explore further with the school to understand what academic supports, interventions, and enrichment programs are in place.

The available records do not include information on course offerings, advanced or remedial programs, staffing ratios, or discipline incidents. Whether Wilson Middle offers gifted programming, accelerated math sequences, foreign language, or targeted support for students with disabilities or English learners is not documented in the data we reviewed. The district’s recent decisions on referendums, curriculum changes, or facility investments were also not found in public search results.

Families considering Wilson Middle will find a school that serves a diverse, economically mixed population in a lively city with established cultural and recreational resources. The academic picture, based on state assessments, shows that the school faces challenges in moving a majority of students to proficiency. For a fuller picture of what a student’s day looks like and what pathways are available, direct outreach to the school or the Appleton Area School District would be necessary.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 49% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 53% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 51% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 54% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 54% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 50% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Science

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 49% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 62% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolAppleton Area School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income39%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income49%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income62%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income40%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income49%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income49%27 pp gap