By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune
The state of Illinois released new student performance data the day before Halloween, touting better reading and math proficiency and a higher graduation rate.
What state officials didn’t emphasize is that this year’s “improvements” come with a big asterisk. Illinois changed how it defines “proficiency,” lowering the bar for what counts as meeting expectations.
Earlier this year, the Illinois State Board of Education voted to lower the proficiency “cut scores” for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, the standardized test taken by students in grades 3–8. Officials said the old thresholds were too high and unfair to students.
The new system, they argued, offers a more “realistic” snapshot of how kids are doing. But that change also makes it nearly impossible to compare new scores to previous years. The state’s online Report Card still includes the historical data in a separate area, but what’s being lost is honesty in presentation.
For years, Illinois has struggled to reconcile high academic expectations with persistently low proficiency rates. After the pandemic, scores cratered and never fully rebounded. The new cut scores reflect a broader debate over whether to meet students where they are or to hold firm on rigorous standards. Lowering expectations may make test results look better on paper, but it does nothing to raise real performance.
For parents, these changes aren’t academic — they shape how families understand whether their children are actually on track. A report card should be a clear window into student achievement, not a fogged-up mirror.
And even under the new, easier benchmarks, the picture isn’t rosy.
Read more here.