MADISON, Wis. — New numbers compiled and released by the Department of Public Instruction shows some drops in test scores across the board for Wisconsin students. 

That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone: Students, teachers and parents have had a rough go of it over the last two years. They’ve had to navigate abrupt stoppage of classes, switching to virtual learning and mask-wearing. 

Some of the biggest drops in test scores were with the Forward exam, which is taken by kids in third through eighth grades. 

In the 2018-19 school year for the Forward exam, about 41% of students tested proficiently in English and language arts. In the 2020-21 school year, that dropped to 33%. 

When it comes to math, there was an even bigger drop, from 43% to 33%. 

It should be noted, however, that these numbers include students who didn’t take the exam. That muddies the waters a bit on the data’s accuracy. 

For high schoolers, there were some smaller dips in ACT scores. Changes were generally by one point or less. 

The more substantial change among high school students was the participation in the ACT in the first place. Fewer students of color took the exam. 

Pre-pandemic, 83% of Black students took the ACT. But in the 2020-21 school year, that number dropped to 52%. There was also a 15% drop in Native and Hispanic students taking the test. 

Families relied on internet access for school more than ever before. The data shows about 97% of Wisconsin students have access to internet at home. However, 77% is acceptable internet performance, which means it’s fast enough for them to get all their work done efficiently. 

Meanwhile, the bigger issue was device access. Only 34% of students had access to a computer or tablet they need for schoolwork. 

It should be noted that when it comes to the internet equity issues, the DPI only has data from 56% of Wisconsin students.