WI DPI and Midwest REL DEWS study

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Wisconsin Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

1) A copy of the Department of Public Instruction's study, conducted in partnership with the Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Midwest, into how the Dropout Early Warning System (DEWS) was perceived by middle school principals. The attached working paper, published in July 2016, describes this "recent" study in more detail on page 2:

"DPI recently partnered with Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Midwest to study how
DEWS is perceived and used by principals in middle schools across the state. A key theme from
that report (unpublished) is that the link between DEWS and interventions is not as strong as it
could be either conceptually or within the tool itself."

I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest. In the event you choose to impose fees, I request a detailed breakdown of the fees, including the hourly wage of each employee involved and an explanation justifying the employee hours required to fulfill the request.

Should you choose to reject this request or redact portions of it, I ask that you provide a detailed breakdown of the statutory exemptions and associated case law underlying your decision to withhold each/any portions from public review.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Todd Feathers