2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
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2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 1
January 31, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives WITTKE, NOVAK, O'CONNOR,
KREIBICH, TUSLER, GUNDRUM, DUCHOW, PENTERMAN, MURPHY, SORTWELL,
BORN, MAXEY, BEHNKE, MELOTIK, MURSAU, PIWOWARCZYK, NEDWESKI,
GUSTAFSON, DONOVAN, GREEN, DITTRICH, DALLMAN, BRILL, B. JACOBSON,
RODRIGUEZ, SPIROS, ALLEN, KNODL, KAUFERT and MOSES, cosponsored by
Senators JAGLER, QUINN, FEYEN, WANGGAARD, TOMCZYK, NASS, BRADLEY,
WIMBERGER, KAPENGA, MARKLEIN, JAMES, JACQUE, TESTIN and CABRAL-
GUEVARA. Referred to Committee on Education.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to renumber and amend 115.385 (1) (b); to amend 115.385 (1) (c); to
create 115.385 (1) (b) 2m. and 118.30 (1j) of the statutes; relating to: changes
to the educational assessment program and the school and school district
accountability report.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the Department of Public Instruction is required to
annually publish a school and school district accountability report, commonly
known as school and school district report cards, for the previous school year. To
measure school performance and school district improvement for purposes of the
report cards, particularly measures related to pupil achievement in reading and
math, DPI uses data derived from pupil performance on assessments administered
in the previous school year, including assessments commonly referred to as the
Wisconsin Student Assessment System, which includes the Wisconsin Forward
Exam, PreACT, the ACT with Writing, and Dynamic Learning Maps.
Under the bill, beginning with report cards published for the school year in
which the bill becomes law, for the index system to identify school and school
district performance and improvement, also known as the accountability rating
categories, DPI must use the same cut scores, score ranges, and corresponding
qualitative descriptions that DPI used for report cards published in the 2019-20 2025 - 2026 Legislature
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school year. In addition, beginning with the WSAS administered in the school year
in which the bill becomes law, DPI must do the following:
1. For the Wisconsin Forward exam in English Language Arts and
Mathematics, align cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance categories to
the cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance categories set by the National
Assessment of Educational Progress.
2. For the PreACT and ACT with Writing in English, Reading, and
Mathematics, use the same cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance
categories that DPI used for the same assessments administered in the 2021-22
school year. The bill specifically requires DPI to use the terms “below basic,”
“basic,” “proficient,” and “advanced” for pupil performance categories on these
assessments.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 115.385 (1) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 115.385 (1) (b) 1m.,
and 115.385 (1) (b) 1m. (intro.), as renumbered, is amended to read:
115.385 (1) (b) 1m. (intro.) An Subject to subd. 2m., an index system to
identify a school’s level of performance and a school district’s level of improvement
and to annually assign to each school and school district one of the following
performance categories:
SECTION 2. 115.385 (1) (b) 2m. of the statutes is created to read:
115.385 (1) (b) 2m. For the school and school district accountability reports
published for the school year beginning on the July 1 immediately preceding the
effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], and for each school year
thereafter, the department shall use the same cut scores and the same score ranges
for the performance categories under subd. 1m. that the department used for the
report published under this section in the 2019-20 school year.
SECTION 3. 115.385 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read: 2025 - 2026 Legislature
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SECTION 3
115.385 (1) (c) A qualitative definition for For each of the 5 performance
categories in par. (b) 1m., the same qualitative definition that the department used
for the report published under this section in the 2019-20 school year.
SECTION 4. 118.30 (1j) of the statutes is created to read:
118.30 (1j) For examinations administered under this section or 20 USC 6311
(b) (2) in the school year beginning on the July 1 immediately preceding the effective
date of this subsection .... [LRB inserts date], and in each school year thereafter, the
department shall do all of the following:
(a) For examinations in English language arts and mathematics administered
to pupils in grades 3 to 8, use cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance
categories that are aligned to the cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance
categories set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress for the same
subject and the same grade.
(b) For examinations in English, reading, and mathematics administered to
pupils in grades 9 to 11, use the same cut scores, the same score ranges, and the
same pupil performance categories that the department used to evaluate the same
examinations administered in the 2021-22 school year, including the following
terminology for the pupil performance categories:
1. Below Basic.
2. Basic.
3. Proficient.
4. Advanced.
(END)