The Badger Exam will be replaced by an online assessment called the Wisconsin Forward Exam from Data Recognition Corporation.

DRC is a Midwestern assessment company with a Wisconsin office. It received a letter of intent from the state to contract for the development, administration, and reporting of results for new assessments for Wisconsin students.

The new Wisconsin Forward Exam from DRC is expected to be shorter and to cost less than the Badger Exam it replaces. It will be administered online, and Wisconsin educators will be involved in test item development and review over the course of the contract.

State students will take the Wisconsin Forward Exam in spring 2016. The exam will test students in English language arts and mathematics in grades three through eight and science in grades four, eight, and 10. High school students in grades nine through 11 will continue to take the ACT assessments.

The recently enacted state budget required the DPI to discontinue use of the Badger Exam.