The Illinois State Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to approve new cut scores for the ACT, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, and the Illinois Science Assessment. The changes will boost the percentage of students considered proficient — but will make comparisons to past years nearly impossible.

The cut scores for English language arts and math will be lowered, resulting in more students labeled as proficient, while science cut scores will go up, resulting in fewer students being considered proficient.

The Office for Students with Disabilities is phasing out two departments and reassigning 65 new roles to work directly with schools, an internal email from Chicago Public Schools shows. The changes aim to put high-quality instruction before compliance, a top district official said.

The school board also approved a resolution to impose new regulations on charter operators, and to lobby the state for changes to the law governing charters.

The school board approved the 2025-26 calendar last year, but then had to change it to comply with its new collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.

A required training for Chicago Board of Education members focused on Illinois’ school improvement and accountability system. That system could change soon, but some board members worry any labeling of schools is more harmful than helpful.

A federal investigation now targets Chicago schools’ long-awaited Black Student Success Plan. State law mandated the Chicago Board of Education create a plan to “bring parity between Black children and their peers.”

Chalkbeat sat down with Elizabeth Todd-Breland, the coauthor of a new memoir chronicling the life of former CTU President Karen Lewis.