Today, the State Board of Education approved a shift in the benchmarks Tennessee schools must meet to comply with No Child Left Behind.
The change gives schools time to adjust to new, tougher academic standards that are already in effect. Because the bar has been raised so quickly, the number of students considered proficient is likely to plummet initially.
Last year, elementary schools needed 86 percent of students to make the grade in math. This year, they’ll only need 20 percent to reach proficiency. There will be similar changes at every grade level and subject area. But after that initial reset, Education Commissioner Tim Webb says those benchmarks will be raised by large steps until 2014.
“It’s a matter of trying to give them time to get to 100%. But the sense of urgency is that’s not much time. Four years is not a lot of time to get from 20 or 30 percent proficient to 100 percent.”
Today’s vote was the last step in gaining state approval for the change. Now, the US Department of Education must agree in order for the benchmark changes to go into effect.
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