Gov. Tony Evers calls it a 'mistake' to change state test score benchmarks

From JSOnline:

Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers, a former state superintendent and public educator, said it was a "mistake" for the state Department of Public Instruction to change how school children are measured on state academic tests without gathering input from educators and parents.

The Democratic governor's comments put him at odds with his successor at the state's education agency, who has defended the changes as providing a more accurate picture of student achievement.

Each year, Wisconsin students take tests administered in the spring known as the Forward tests for third- through eighth-graders and the ACT and PreACT Secure tests for high school students. The DPI recently changed the standards for the Forward Exam by renaming the levels of student achievement and lowering the scores to reach each category.

For many years, the categories were titled “advanced,” “proficient,” “basic” and “below basic.” Now they are “advanced,” “meeting,” “approaching,” and “developing.” The DPI said in a statement at the time that the new terminology is “asset-based” and “promotes academic potential, engagement, and growth.

But the category changes have been met with criticism and mean the test is no longer aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly said in October that the benchmarks created an "extremely high standard to meet, beyond grade-level knowledge."

Evers, who in 2012 as state superintendent adopted the previous standards that were recently changed by Underly, said Friday he was surprised by the changes.

"I hate to even talk about things that aren't my purview anymore in the Department of Public Instruction but I just think there should have been some information and dialog happening with all sorts of people before that decision," Evers told reporters in a press conference. "It's hard to compare year to year if one year you're doing something completely different ... I think it could have been handled better."

Evers said he believes there were school officials who didn't know the changes were coming.

"The mistake was there wasn’t enough conversation with stakeholders, parents ahead of time," he said.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told CBS58 that the new testing standards were "preposterous" and expects to introduce legislation to address the changes during the upcoming legislative session beginning this month.

"We want to pass legislation to guarantee the standards are the same and you don't get to jigger then every time you want to run for reelection," Vos told CBS58.

Underly is seeking a second term as DPI superintendent this spring. She faces Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright and Brittany Kinser, an education consultant in a Feb. 18 primary election. The two candidates who receive the most votes will move to the April 1 spring election.

Laura Schulte of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/06/evers-calls-dpis-decision-to-change-state-test-scores-a-mistake/77483206007/

The dumbing-down of the USA continues.  If the students can't hit the mark in testing, then just lower the standards.  This is not only an insult to the students and their parents, it's also an insult to future generations that have to adjust and tolerate more ignorance and more stupidity.