State education board to adopt new proficiency benchmarks for state tests

How Illinois measures whether students are achieving grade-level proficiency in English, mathematics and science and whether they are ready for college is about to change — again.

The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday will vote on adopting new performance levels and proficiency benchmarks for state assessments. The proposed changes would align the ACT, Illinois Assessment of Readiness and Illinois Science Assessment to real expectations for college and career readiness, officials said at a media briefing Tuesday.

The new, unified performance levels and proficiency benchmarks are the result of an 18-month review process led by educators statewide and validated by external experts, officials said.

While the goal is for more students to meet proficiency by lowering cut scores, state officials stress these updated standards don’t lower the bar, but rather more accurately capture students’ full spectrum of skills and acknowledge their growth.

“District superintendents across the state and I have known for years that we've had a problem with the cut scores for proficiency on our state assessments,” state Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said Tuesday. “In fact, more than 500 school districts have signed onto Vision 2030, which is a unified effort of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, the school boards, principals and other groups that sets goals for the next five years on what they want to advocate for. And fixing Illinois’ definition of proficiency is a key part of that plan.”

Performance levels are categories of achievement on state assessments. Cut scores are the scores separating each level. While federal law requires states to administer standardized tests and report student performance, each state sets its own performance levels, cut scores and which levels count as proficient.

“To be clear, being not proficient does not mean a student can’t read or can’t do math,” Sanders said. “The Illinois Learning Standards are intentionally rigorous and reflect depth and breadth of higher-order learning skills by critical thinking, logic and analysis. Each performance level reflects a student’s ability to apply their knowledge to a more complex problem.”

Families can see these performance levels on their child’s report card — annual Illinois School Report Card results are released each October — and school districts use that measure and proficiency rates to track progress from year to year. Proficiency rates also help determine whether schools require additional support.

Once adopted, the revised performance benchmarks will serve as a new baseline. That means whether students fall below, meet or exceed proficiency levels on state tests this school year won’t be comparable to previous results, Sanders said.

Illinois’ adoption of the ACT as its preferred college entrance exam — administered to all 11th-graders — prompted establishing new performance levels for high school this year.

Sanders said the timing was right to shift benchmarks across all subjects and grade levels.

He added Illinois students nationally are recognized for strong academic achievement through participation in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Advanced Placement metrics, studies of post-pandemic recovery, and other indicators of student success, such as graduation rates.

Illinois’ eighth-graders outperformed national averages in reading and math, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress results. And Illinois fourth-graders were on par with national averages, according to The Nation’s Report Card.

Schools across the suburbs also made notable strides in improving English language arts proficiency, mirroring a statewide trend seen in the 2024 Illinois School Report Card. Statewide, students in third through eighth grades achieved an ELA proficiency rate of 40.9% — the highest since they began taking the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in 2019, according to report card data. Recovery in math has been slower.

“Illinois students and schools are performing exceedingly well, but our proficiency rates have not reflected that reality,” Sanders said.

Two-thirds of Illinois high school graduates enroll in a two- or four-year college within 12 months of graduation, Sanders said.

“That's pretty amazing, but our state assessment says less than half that number of students are proficient in English language arts, and an even smaller number are proficient in math,” Sanders said. “Put simply, as currently designed, our proficiency rates do not reflect the reality of student progress. They're misaligned with what it actually means to succeed in college and career.”

For example, Sanders said a Naperville North High School student, who had a 3.9 grade-point average and completed seven AP courses and two industry certifications, still scored not proficient in English language arts and math.

As a result, Sanders contends students are being denied opportunities for acceleration, misidentified as needing interventions or left believing they are not ready for college.

The new ACT benchmarks will give students greater confidence and parents more useful information to guide decisions, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe said.

“Adjusting the ACT cut scores ensures our accountability system reflects the reality of what we see in our schools,” Rowe said. “And for our staff, it means assessment data better mirrors the growth and achievement that we see in our classrooms, helping us target support where it's truly needed.”