Illinois’ schools report card was released this week, and while it showed increased student proficiency in key areas, a scoring change sparked discussion.

Those higher proficiency rates were found in math and reading scores on standardized testing released this week, but according to experts at Chalkbeat, a non-profit focused on journalism in the education space, a change in so-called “cut scores” have made an apples-to-apples comparison to previous years more difficult.

Those cut scores are thresholds students need to be meet to be considered proficient, according to ISBE officials. The state said it changed those standards to help align test results with grade-level standards, but it also makes it trickier to compare scores to previous years.

“This year we saw an increase in the n

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