Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)

State education agency that administers the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) for grades 3–8 in ELA and math, and publishes the annual Illinois State Report Card. In 2025 ISBE lowered the cut scores defining proficiency on the IAR — a state-level case of changing what proficiency means to address parent confusion, in contrast to communication-focused approaches like Learning Heroes' push for clearer reporting of existing scores.

2025 cut-score change

ISBE lowered the cut scores defining proficiency on the IAR after consultation with teachers, school leaders, and advocates. Per State Superintendent Tony Sanders, the prior cut scores were "among the highest in the nation and confused parents because they were not aligned with grade level standards." See source.

Reported proficiency rates jumped statewide (ELA 39.4% → 52.0%; math 27.9% → 38.0%). Critics — Robin Steans of Advance Illinois, Jessica Handy of Stand for Children — argued the change makes pandemic-recovery tracking impossible and constitutes "a change in the goal posts."

ISBE did not publish side-by-side comparison data; Chicago Public Schools had to compute its own.

Tension to track

ISBE's framing — that prior bands "confused parents" — is a legitimate diagnosis. But the chosen fix (redefine the bands) creates a new communication problem: parents now see higher proficiency rates with no accessible explanation that the underlying performance hasn't necessarily improved. See proficiency bands and cut scores.