Moving Wisconsin Students Forward

the third new test in three years will hopefully reduce time spent testing and disruption of the school day

Alison Wagener, photos by Kristin Craker |

The forward exam HAPPENS THIS SPRING in wisconsin schools.
The Forward exam happens this spring in Wisconsin schools.

This spring, Wisconsin students will be taking the Forward Exam, the state’s third standardized testing suite in the last three years. The Forward Exam was preceded by the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, used annually from 1997 until 2014, and the Badger Exam, which was only partially implemented due to technological difficulties in 2015.

The new Common Core-aligned Forward Exams will be completely online and will measure English, language arts, and math in grades 3-8 and science in grades 4, 8, and 10. The testing interface and procedure will be familiar to students who took the Badger Exam last spring.

“Assessments are an important way for us to get a measure of how our kids are doing, but we’re not going to be successful by having them spend a ton of time taking practice tests.” – Jim Schmitt, executive director of teaching and learning, Eau Claire school district

Although the Forward will look similar to the Badger Exam, testing will take much less time out of the school day than last year’s tests did. The Forward Exam is untimed but tests will take approximately 80-140 minutes to complete, depending on the grade and subject. Last year’s exams took 4.5 hours.

Jim Schmitt, executive director of teaching and learning for the Eau Claire school district, said that extensive test preparation won’t be necessary, as the exam measures what is already covered in existing classroom curriculums. “Assessments are an important way for us to get a measure of how our kids are doing, but we’re not going to be successful by having them spend a ton of time taking practice tests,” Schmitt said. “We’re going to have them be successful by regular classroom instruction that our teachers are so good at providing.”

The Forward Exam was created by Data Recognition Corporation, an assessment and information management company based in Minnesota. DRC will virtually administer the test as well as report statewide results. Two ECASD educators participated in an item review process for the exam.

Schmitt said that one of the district’s biggest challenges is coordinating the technology necessary to make sure testing goes smoothly. This includes everything from ensuring that the computers are connecting to DRC’s servers to testing if the Wi-Fi at each building can handle the increased capacity. “And that’s without making sure that the headphones didn’t get shipped to the wrong building,” Schmitt added.

Testing will happen between March 28 and May 20. Families will soon be able to access tools to familiarize themselves with the Forward Exam on the school district’s website.

With our students’ education on the line, let’s all hope the third time’s the charm, and that Forward will be a direction we can move in.