Overview

• The Illinois State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on Aug. 13 to reduce the Illinois Assessment of Readiness cut score for ELA from 750 to 735 and for math from 750 to 732 while raising the Illinois Science Assessment benchmark from 799 to 812.
• Under the proposed standards, 53 percent of students would reach ELA proficiency and 38 percent would meet math proficiency, but the board said those figures cannot be compared with past results.
• New ACT section thresholds would be set at 18 for English language arts and 19 for both math and science to reflect college coursework readiness.
• State Superintendent Tony Sanders argued current cut scores overstate student underperformance, but critics caution that easing benchmarks could dilute school accountability and obscure gaps in learning recovery.
• If the board approves the changes, officials plan to update school quality labels in 2026 and provide professional development on the uniform performance-level descriptors.