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When an official with the Green Bay, Wisconsin, school district previewed new student test results for the school board last month, he urged members not to get too excited.

While it looked like the number of students scoring at the lowest level dropped by over 12%, the reality was more complicated. 

鈥淐omparing 2023 to 2024 is challenging,鈥� David Johns, an associate superintendent, . In conjunction with the unveiling of new standards last year, the state for proficiency and performance levels. Below basic became 鈥渄eveloping鈥� and basic, 鈥渁pproaching.鈥� 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not exactly apples to oranges, but it’s like apples to apple juice,鈥� he said.

Wisconsin isn鈥檛 the only state that recently instituted changes that effectively boost proficiency rates. Oklahoma and recently made similar adjustments. lowered passing or 鈥渃ut鈥� scores in reading and math last year, while and are considering such revisions.

Changing standards and proficiency targets is a routine process for states that some say offers a reflection of what students know. But given the cataclysmic effects of COVID on student learning, experts say now is not the time to tweak how we measure performance. 

鈥淢any parents are already underestimating the degree to which their children are ,鈥� said Tom Kane, a Harvard researcher who has been tracking students鈥� recovery from COVID learning loss. 鈥淟owering the proficiency cuts now will mislead them further.鈥�  

Even Jill Underly, Wisconsins鈥檚 education chief, confessed to some bewilderment about the process last year.

鈥淭he crummy thing is, I am an educator and I don鈥檛 understand it 鈥� so how are parents supposed to understand this too?鈥� she wrote in a June 2023 email. 鈥淔or example, what does Proficient mean vs. Advanced? That they are at grade level vs. the next grade level? I just hate this stuff so much.鈥�

The conservative Institute for Reforming Government, which obtained the email through a public records request and shared it with 麻豆精品, is pushing the state to level with parents about poor student performance in the aftermath of COVID. 

Shifting the goal posts “sends a message that we are accepting post-pandemic levels for student performance and shows a lack of belief in every student,鈥� said Quinton Klabon, the think tank鈥檚 senior research director.

Chris Bucher, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, said Underly鈥檚 comments show she was 鈥渄oing her job鈥� by asking the department鈥檚 experts tough questions in an effort to make the complex calculations more transparent. To help explain the changes, the department released a of how it altered standards and cut scores. 

鈥楢n outlier鈥�

The scoring changes in Wisconsin and other states are likely to fuel fresh criticism of the 鈥渉onesty gap鈥� 鈥� the chasm between the disparate, conflicting measures states use to determine student progress and the , uniform standard for proficiency set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

Known as the Nation鈥檚 Report Card, NAEP defines proficiency as 鈥渟olid academic performance鈥� and 鈥渃ompetency over challenging subject matter.鈥� It鈥檚 a higher bar than merely being on grade level and one that has long triggered debate. Education researcher Tom Loveless, formerly with the Brookings Institution, calls it 鈥�,鈥� and one of international tests showed that many students in high-performing countries couldn鈥檛 reach it.

But it鈥檚 a goal many states were striving toward just prior to the pandemic, when several commentators first about the 鈥渉onesty gap,鈥� and one some experts think states shouldn鈥檛 abandon. 

鈥淚t is the only common yardstick that is available to compare student achievement across states and across the large urban districts,鈥� said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP. 鈥淔rom the board鈥檚 perspective, standards are not going to be lower for [kids] when they enter college or the world of work.鈥�

Frustrated with test standards in New York, Ashara Baker, a Rochester mother and state director of the National Parents Union, created her on student outcomes. While she included state data, broken down by race, she also cited NAEP proficiency rates as a comparison.

鈥淲hen you’re lowering these cut scores, clearly the goal is to show some sort of growth,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I think we’re getting away from the actual goal of why we do assessments. They should really demonstrate where kids are struggling or where there is a gap.鈥� 

Christy Hovanetz, a senior policy fellow at ExcelinEd, a think tank, added that unlike grades on assignments and homework, state assessments should provide parents 鈥渙bjective鈥� information on how their children are doing. Schools also use them to determine which students are eligible for extra help. Lowering the bar, she said, means some students who need aid might not get it.  

鈥淭hese assessments are how we help identify students for extra support and assistance,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow there will be a lot of kids that aren’t going to be getting those high-dosage tutoring sessions or who aren’t going to be getting that additional support in math that they might need.鈥�

As with most states, New York鈥檚 threshold for proficiency lines up with NAEP鈥檚 basic level, defined as 鈥減artial mastery鈥� of fundamental knowledge and skills, according to a from the National Center for Education Statistics. The report showed that at the time, Wisconsin had some of the toughest standards for reading and math in the country, which meant that a higher percentage of students fell short compared with other states.

That made Wisconsin 鈥渁n outlier鈥� Bucher said. 

鈥淥ur previous test scores made it appear kids were performing worse on standardized assessments than they actually were,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e listened to a group of experts 鈥� educators who are in the classroom each day teaching kids 鈥� who recommended we use cuts that align to our standards and take us closer to grade-level expectations.鈥�

Next month, NCES is expected to update its 2021 report with a new comparison of states鈥� proficiency cut scores and NAEP, one that is likely to renew criticism of the way states measure student performance. 

鈥淪tates that have been more ambitious are now sticking out like sore thumbs,鈥� Klabon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a race to the bare minimum, rather than a race to the top.鈥�

鈥楢 sense of urgency鈥�

One state that is choosing to stick out is Virginia. Rather than calling it unrealistic, the state, under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, is hoping to reach the ambitious NAEP standard.

The governor to the honesty gap in 2022, announcing sweeping changes to the state鈥檚 testing regimen that include stricter standards, assessments and cut scores. A new , which takes effect in 2025-26, is expected to label a majority of schools off track or in need of 鈥渋ntensive support.鈥� 

鈥淲e are not telling parents, students, teachers, policymakers and citizens the truth about where our children really are on mastering content,鈥� state education Secretary Aimee Guidera told 麻豆精品. 鈥淲hy isn’t there a sense of urgency?鈥�

The 2021 NCES report showed that Virginia had the lowest standards for proficiency in reading. Virginia education officials pin its poor showing on decisions made by previous Democratic governors. In 2014, under former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the state passed a law requiring students to . And under former Gov. Ralph Northam, the State Board of Education in reading and math.

accuse the Youngkin administration of fueling a negative perception of schools in order to  private school choice, including education savings accounts, which in the state legislature last year. 

Virginia saw the largest decline in the nation in fourth grade reading on the 2022 NAEP test, dropping from an average score of 224 to 214. But 32% of students were proficient 鈥� same as the national average. On several other , including the SAT and exam, Virginia students have historically ranked near the top.

Advancing school choice was a 鈥渕andate for Youngkin and he has pursued it with dogged determination,鈥� said Cheryl Binkley, president of 4PublicEducation, a Virginia advocacy group. He has appointed school choice advocates to the state board, she said, and pledged to increase the number of .

But Guidera points to increases in and over $400 million the state provided to as evidence that leaders aren鈥檛 trying to 鈥渢ear down鈥� public schools.

Under a different Republican administration in Oklahoma, the opposite scenario is playing out. As 麻豆精品 reported last month, the state education department, led by Superintendent Ryan Walters, made its state tests less challenging, especially in reading. In third grade, for example, 51% of students scored proficient or better, compared to 29% last year. 

Richard Cobb, superintendent of the Mid-Del district, near Oklahoma City, said district leaders know student performance has improved, but the department鈥檚 changes had the effect of artificially inflating the magnitude of the gains.

The move represented a break from work led by Walters鈥檚 predecessor, Joy Hofmeister, to align the state with NAEP鈥檚 stronger proficiency targets. In 2017, over 70% of students on average were performing at the proficient level through elementary and middle school on state tests, but only a quarter went on to earn a competitive score on the ACT test in 11th grade.

鈥淭he whole idea was trying to get an honest indicator of student readiness as early as third grade when kids start testing,鈥� said Maria D鈥橞rot, a former deputy superintendent in Oklahoma who traveled across the state with Hofmeister to explain the honesty gap to local superintendents. 

Their message wasn鈥檛 well received.

鈥淛oy’s adjustment to the cut scores was wildly unpopular and demoralizing,鈥� said Cobb, who has led the district since 2015. 鈥淣AEP should not be our target, and many superintendents told her that.鈥�

But in the summer of 2017, 121 educators met at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City to determine tougher cut points for each performance level. Just as the public, plummeted. The in third grade reading, for example, dropped from 72% to 39%.

Hofmeister, who was reelected in 2018, remains proud of that work, which she said would make students better prepared for college and a competitive job market.

鈥淚 remember feeling like this is worth it if it means I’m a one termer,鈥� she said. 

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