(The Center Square) – Wisconsin students showed a slight increase in reading and a slight decrease in math scores in numbers released Thursday.
The state’s ACT college readiness test results were an average composite score of 19.2.
The tests showed that 47.7% of students were marked as meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts while 48.6% were marked the same in mathematics in testing this spring.
“While these test scores give us some insight into how our kids are doing academically, they represent a snapshot from a single day and are only one piece of the puzzle,” State Superintendent Jill Underly said in a statement. “Our students, educators, and schools are facing growing challenges — from mental health struggles to economic uncertainty — and that context matters. These results remind us why it’s so important to support the whole child and ensure every Wisconsin student has access to strong, caring educators.”
The Institute for Reforming Government pointed to the state lowering test score benchmarks, making it “easier for wealthier suburban schools to reach proficiency than poorer urban and rural schools.”
The state has widening achievement gaps based upon economic need and between wealthier districts and poorer urban and rural schools.
IRG Senior Research Director Quinton Klabon told The Center Square that, despite the state results, the national NAEP results showed that 37% of students are college- or career-ready in reading and 40% of students are in mathematics.
“Parents cannot advocate for their children if they think everything is going fine,” Klabon said.
The results come after Underly said in her recent State of Education speech that funding for Wisconsin schools is an issue and so are private school vouchers.
“All while facing micromanaging from Madison and endless finger-pointing from lawmakers who too often choose politics over partnership,” Underly said during her speech. “And here’s the truth: We are starving one system while funding another. We cannot afford to keep pulling resources away from public schools to fund private ones and expect both to thrive.
“That is not good stewardship. That is not Wisconsin.”
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Research Director Will Flanders, however, pointed out during the speech that “inflation-adjusted spending has doubled since the 1970s” for Wisconsin schools.
Klabon said that Wisconsin public schools had the most employees ever in 2025, but the fewest students since 1992, saying that additional spending should go directly to the classroom.
“Unfortunately, most of those additional staff are not teachers,” Klabon said. “Even worse, that misalignment is driving taxpayer referenda without improving results.”
IRG’s Real State of Education showed that the state made record investments in K-12 education during the past two budgets but standards have lowered, results have been stagnant or lowered and “these changed standards make it nearly impossible to track student achievement over time.”
Underly pointed toward the hiring process and teacher retention as issues.
A report earlier this year from DPI showed the average total compensation for teachers in the state is down $22,000 per year since 2010 in inflation-adjusted dollars while only 26.1% of teachers remained at the same Wisconsin public school for their first seven years of teaching.
“Recruiting and retaining great teachers in our classrooms is one of the most powerful ways we can help all kids succeed,” Underly said.
Klabon said the state needs to catch up to the rest of the country in teacher apprenticeships, which give teachers extra training through paid training in college. He added that teachers need to be respected and supported.
“That means ensuring classrooms can be made safe for educators and other students,” Klabon said. “That means preparing teachers with adequate preparation time, excellent curriculum, and professional development, which they often lack. That means respecting teachers as the stars they are and urgently fixing what is broken in Wisconsin education.”
