(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s fourth-grade test scores showed a continued decrease in aptitude while the eighth-grade math scores were the third-highest in the country in results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress released Wednesday.
The scores are released every two years and are intended to show the aptitude of students as they prepare for college.
The results showed just 31% of the state’s fourth graders were proficient in reading compared to 33% in 2022 and 36% in 2019. Black fourth grade students fared the worst in the country with 8% proficient in reading and 5% in math.
“Reading scores in Wisconsin and Milwaukee are the lowest in decades,” said CJ Szafir, CEO of the Institute for Reforming Government. “Instead of solving this literacy crisis, Superintendent [Jill] Underly has lowered standards for Wisconsin kids and dragged her feet on enacting Act 20. Enough is enough. DPI must return to high standards and retrain teachers by the law’s 2025 deadline, or 2027 will look the same.”
Only Massachusetts and students at the Department of Defense fared better than Wisconsin eighth-graders in math while fourth-graders were at the national average in math, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly’s office said.
“While the NAEP results highlight some successes, today’s release serves as an urgent wake-up call for our state – one that demands we act with greater urgency to support our children, educators, and schools,” Underly said. “We have the power to achieve lasting change, but it starts with a fundamental commitment to properly investing in our public schools, rather than continuing the cycle of underfunding them, as our legislature has chosen to do for far too long.”
Some pointed to the results and believed it showed that Wisconsin’s adjusted standards on the state Forward Exam have given inaccurate information on how prepared Wisconsin students are for college.
State Sen. John Jager, R-Watertown, and Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Caledonia, recently introduced legislation that would reset the K-12 school report card standards of 2019-20, makes grades 3-8 standards the same as those set by the NAEP and would make the high school testing standards the same as those from 2021-22.
“The latest Nation’s Report Card, released today, confirms that only 3 out of 10 students are college- or career-ready, and the achievement gap is widening,” said Brittany Kinser, a candidate for DPI superintendent. “The state exam results for Wisconsin fail to reveal the full extent of the problem. Transparency and urgency are critical to addressing this crisis. That’s why I’m running—to restore high academic standards with a relentless focus on reading, writing, and math.”
