State DPI releases standardized test results

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released its first standardized test results since academic standards were lowered.

The changes affect scoring on the English language, arts and math sections of the Forward Exam Wisconsin students take. The changes lowered the cut scores between groups and changed the terminology used to describe student performance.

On Tuesday, DPI released the 2023-2024 school year results. The results found about half of the tested students in public and private school choice programs are considered proficient in English language arts and mathematics.

Specifically, assessment results show public school student proficiency rates in English language arts and mathematics were 48 percent and 49.4 percent, respectively. Students participating in the state’s Private School Choice Programs had proficiency rates of 30.9 percent and 28.3 percent for 2023-24.

During a conference call regarding the results, DPI officials said the exam's redesign, which aligned it to the state's new standards, was done by a group of educators who see firsthand where students are academically.

"Standards have not been lowered. We are reflecting actual students' results using Wisconsin's strong academic standards," DPI Interim Communications Director Chris Bucher said.

State Superintendent Dr. Jully Underly defended the changes in a press release.

“I am proud of the work our state’s educators did to align our test with Wisconsin’s academic standards,” Underly said. “This work has led to results that will be easier for families to understand and provide them with a much better reflection of what our students should know, and how they are performing at each grade.”

DPI said the changes made make comparing these results to previous years impossible and that these results are the first in a new trend when comparing student performance in future years.