Reform groups lined up at the statehouse, pressing Republican lawmakers to return the standards that schools and parents used last year.

“The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently lowered proficiency test cut scores, detached our standards from National Assessment of Educational Progress proficiency levels, and modified the tests of students’ ability to read and to do math in ways that render comparisons to previous testing data impossible.,” The Badger Institute’s Mike Nichols said in an open letter about the changes. “In short, the changes force Wisconsin to start over with education data after lowering the bar.”

State Superintendent Jill Underly ordered changes the learning standards and the scores for state tests that measure student learning.

Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to change them back.

Chris Reader with the Institute for Reforming Government told lawmakers the changes not only lower the bar, they confuse parents by claiming a lot more students can read or write at grade level.

“It’s the 2023 benchmarks that clearly labeled student learning and the 2024 benchmarks that mislabeled them,” Reader said. “[The National Report card] and 2023 Forward benchmarks used to be simple. Minimal was roughly ‘below grade level,’ Basic was ‘grade level,’ Proficient was ‘college- and career-ready,’ and Advanced was ‘selective college- or career-ready.’’ Instead of simply relabeling them as such, DPI changed the cut scores to new benchmarks that no longer represent grade level.”

Reader told lawmakers that reversing the changes and going back to the standards from just a few years ago will better allow schools, lawmakers, and parents to understand if their child can read at grade and write as they should.

“Chasing high standards is what is best for kids every year,” Reader added.

Underly did not speak to lawmakers at the hearing. Instead, she issued a statement that accused Republicans at the Capitol of attacking public schools.

“Republican lawmakers are proving once again they’re not interested in real solutions – they’re too busy playing political games, using our schools and children as pawns to push their own ideological agenda,” Underly said. “Rather than empowering local districts, they are intent on ignoring local control and imposing their own control over classrooms, dictating every move and actively trying to undermine public trust in our teachers and the entire education system.”

The State Assembly has made the plan to change the standard it’s top priority, Assembly Bill 1. Thursday was its first hearing.