(The Lion) — Forget reading, writing and arithmetic – the real “R” public schools are teaching these days is “reducing (academic) rigor” by lowering proficiency standards, a commentary in The Hill argues.

“The problem is not that standards are too high on independent tests; it is that proficiency is shockingly low,” writes Dave Trabert, chief executive officer of the Kansas Policy Institute. “State education administrators want that harsh reality to disappear because looking good is more important than students being academically prepared for life after high school.”

Trabert explores recent trends in Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma to abandon guidelines set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in favor of other standards, showing a sudden surge in student performance.

For example, Wisconsin’s proficiency rates for eighth grade reading “jumped to 48 percent” in the 2024 state assessment “even as its students were only 32 percent proficient on the National Assessment,” Trabert notes.

“Kansas had also closely tracked the National Assessment in prior years. In 2024, the state assessment showed 22 percent of eighth graders were proficient in reading, while 25 percent were proficient on the National Assessment.  After lowering standards, the state Department of Education was suddenly able to claim 40 percent proficiency — an implausible leap.”

‘Solid academic performance’ vs. ‘partial mastery’

When describing student performance, the NAEP uses three main achievement levels: advanced, proficient and basic.

“The ‘proficient’ standard on the National Assessment ‘represents solid academic performance for each grade assessed,’” Trabert quotes. “Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter.”

However, the lowest achievement level, “basic,” implies “partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade.”

Given this terminology, anything less than a proficient rating means academic institutions have failed in their educational goals, Trabert argues.

“Is ‘solid academic performance’ an unreasonable expectation for students? Should ‘partial mastery’ be the mission-accomplished goal?” he asks rhetorically.

“When state proficiency standards are compared to the National Assessment of Educational Progress equivalent for ‘proficient’ in 2022, only a handful of states — including Illinois, Kansas and Wisconsin — have proficiency standards for eighth grade reading that are at or slightly above proficient. Lowering the bar for state proficiency will therefore translate to ‘basic’ or partial mastery.”

As previously reported by The Lion, recent surveys have shown business owners expressing concerns over job candidates’ math skills, rating these as “important” or “very “important” in available positions.

“State education administrators often say, ‘It’s all about the kids,’ yet their actions suggest it’s more about protecting adult reputations than improving student outcomes,” Trabert argues.

He concludes by noting the example of Oklahoma, which introduced new academic standards in 2024 that showed “absurdly unbelievable” proficiency gains “from 29 percent proficient in third grade reading to 51 percent in just one year.”

“After several months of outrage over the deception, the Oklahoma Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability voted unanimously to throw out performance expectations that the state set in 2024 and to restore the nationally aligned standard used from 2017 to 2023 for the 2025 school year,” Trabert writes.

While painful for the state, Oklahoma’s willingness to change back to NAEP standards ultimately benefited students who would otherwise slip through the system under a false label of mastery, according to Trabert.

“Legislators in Wisconsin, Illinois and Kansas must follow Oklahoma’s lead: Reject diluted standards and demand transparency and real progress,” he concludes. “Legislators nationwide should reject efforts to quietly lower the bar.”