Wisconsin’s “Testing Truth” Isn’t Found in Cut Scores

By Dr. Tim Slekar

Ah, the familiar sound of standardized testing advocates clutching their pearls. This week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an opinion piece that accuses Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) of duping parents and destroying accountability by adjusting the proficiency cut scores on the state’s Forward Exam. Predictably, the author declares this move a betrayal of high standards, a confusing mess for parents, and a loss of transparency in education. But let’s dig into this because the narrative being spun here is not only misleading—it’s dangerous.

Let’s Be Honest About “Honesty Gaps”

At the core of this critique is the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress), or as its fans like to call it, the “gold standard” of standardized testing. The author laments that Wisconsin’s Forward Exam no longer aligns with NAEP benchmarks, which are famously aspirational—in other words, designed to label most kids as failures. Here’s the question no one asks: What good are tests that only confirm how broken a system is, rather than help fix it?

High-stakes testing has never been about improving education; it’s about ranking and sorting. When DPI adjusted the Forward Exam cut scores, they weren’t lowering the bar—they were refusing to keep forcing kids and schools to jump through flaming hoops for the sake of optics.

Accountability: Who’s It Really For?

The opinion piece paints DPI’s decision as an abandonment of accountability, but let’s be real—accountability in education has always been a one-way street. Teachers are evaluated, students are labeled, schools are punished, but policymakers and profiteers are never held to account for the mess they create.

Let me ask: How does a test score capture a teacher staying late to help a struggling student? Or a kid’s progress after finally getting a hot meal and a counselor to talk to? Accountability measures should empower schools to improve, not serve as tools for shaming underfunded districts or propping up charter school advertisements.

The Equity Mirage

The piece does throw out the racial achievement gap in Milwaukee as an example of why DPI’s move is harmful. But let’s not get it twisted—Wisconsin’s racial achievement gap didn’t appear overnight, and it won’t disappear with tougher cut scores. The gap has been fueled by decades of systemic racism, underfunded schools, and neglect for students’ mental health and well-being.

If the critics of DPI’s decision are serious about equity, then let’s see some energy behind fixing the actual problems:

• Chronic underfunding of schools in Black and Brown communities.
• Overcrowded classrooms.
• The school-to-prison pipeline.

Lowering the Forward Exam cut scores doesn’t “widen the honesty gap”—it just exposes the real dishonesty in Wisconsin’s education system: the unwillingness to fund and support public schools equitably.

The Testing Industrial Complex

What this really boils down to is a defense of the testing industrial complex. High-stakes testing is a billion-dollar industry designed to convince us that kids’ futures hinge on their ability to bubble in the right answers. The irony? Parents don’t need test scores to tell them how their kids are doing. Teachers don’t need state assessments to know who needs help. These tests are about control, not learning.

The DPI’s decision to recalibrate proficiency standards doesn’t weaken accountability—it challenges the illusion that NAEP-aligned tests are the sole arbiters of truth in education. And that scares the hell out of the accountability hawks.

Reclaiming the Narrative

This conversation needs a shift. Instead of obsessing over cut scores and proficiency levels, let’s focus on what really matters:

• Are kids curious and excited to learn?
• Do schools have the resources they need to meet kids where they are?
• Are we building systems that lift up communities instead of ranking them into oblivion?

High-stakes testing has failed to answer these questions for decades. It’s time to move beyond the bubble sheets and start building schools that prioritize humanity over numbers.

The BustED pencils Bottom Line

To Wisconsin parents: Don’t fall for the “lowered standards” narrative. Demand real accountability—accountability that asks the tough questions about equity, funding, and resources, not just test scores.

This isn’t about tricking anyone or lowering expectations. It’s about refusing to play the game that has failed our kids for years. Let’s break the obsession with standardized tests and start investing in schools that nurture curiosity, creativity, and community.The fight for public education isn’t over, and BustED pencils is here to lead the charge.