This post originally appeared at https://www.badgerinstitute.org/why-the-badger-institute-supports-ab1-and-reversing-the-dpi-testing-charade/

We submitted testimony in favor of the Assembly’s Number One piece of business this week because, no matter how lousy our kids’ and schools’ test scores are, it’s both counterproductive and plain wrong to pretend otherwise.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently lowered proficiency test proficiency test cut scores, detached our standards from National Assessment of Educational Progress proficiency levels, and modified the tests of students’ ability to read and to do math in ways that render comparisons to previous testing data impossible.

In short, the changes force Wisconsin to start over with education data after lowering the bar.

An example from the results of the DPI’s Forward exam and from the just-released NAEP tests illustrate the problem.

In Wisconsin statewide, among 4th-graders in 2022, 44.8% were found to be proficient at reading. The most recent results show 52.1% proficient, or “meeting,” as the relabeled category is called. That’s a 16% improvement.

But the NAEP test of Wisconsin 4th-graders found in 2022 that 33% were proficient in reading in 2022, and 31% are proficient now, a 6% drop.

Among 4th-graders in Milwaukee, the DPI in 2022 found that 17.2% were proficient in reading, while in 2024, 22.2% were — a 29% improvement. NAEP, however, found that in 2022, 12% of Milwaukee 4th-graders were proficient in reading, while in 2024, only 9% were — a 25% drop.

Which is correct? The DPI’s flawed standard-setting process make its results uselessly unreliable — indeed, the DPI says we can’t even compare the latest figures to previous ones. How are policymakers and parents to judge the results?

Assembly Bill 1 is the Republican bill designed to return Wisconsin’s academic standards to the high levels from which they were lowered by Superintendent Jill Underly and the staff at the DPI. But this is a bill Democrats can support as well.

Like everyone, we shared the same reaction as Governor Tony Evers when we were surprised by the drastic changes revealed just prior to the required release of the data.

While this bill is focused on restoring previous, higher standards, much of the problem with the lowering of our standards was the process. Enormously consequential changes were decided upon entirely within the walls of the DPI by staff and an advisory group whose members were required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

While not all the changes made to Wisconsin’s testing paradigm and statewide report cards are addressed in this bill, we support the goal of realigning our standards with NAEP, of using common sense language for describing the levels of proficiency, and of setting higher expectations for our kids.

We hope a hearing  on the bill Thursday was the first step in restoring both higher standards and transparency.

Mike Nichols is the President of the Badger Institute, Patrick McIlheran its Director of Policy.

Any use or reproduction of Badger Institute articles or photographs requires prior written permission. To request permission to post articles on a website or print copies for distribution, contact Badger Institute President Mike Nichols at mike@badgerinstitute.org or 262-389-8239.

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