The National Center for Education Statistics released a mapping of state standards to the NAEP assessment confirming much of what we already knew about how states have set low expectations for students, and unfortunately many states have continued to lower their standards even further from 2005 to 2007. Education Sector has shown in a series of reports (Report 1 and Report 2) that as part of the implementation of NCLB many states went to extreme efforts to make their schools look better than they actually were, not just by setting low standards, but also by lowering them. Because states were given great flexibility to define the measures used to hold schools accountable, in addition to standards and cut scores of assessments, states set low expectations in other areas by their definitions for highly qualified teachers, determining sub-group sizes, determining what made a school unsafe, and more.

So the fact that this NCES study starts looking at states in 2005, the study may have missed the window during which many states lowered their expectations. The study does show how the expectations are. Perhaps most disconcerting is the expectations that states have set for 4th grade reading. Currently only 16 states have set proficiency levels that are above the basic level on NAEP. Reading by 4th grade is one of those gateway skills, and it appears that states think that less than basic skills is good enough. The study differentiates between the state that lowered their standards when they made a major change in their assessment system, and those that simply changed their cut score from one year to the next. I am not sure which of these causes the greatest concern. For example there were 7 states that statistically lowered their expectations in 8th grade reading during the process of adopting a new state assessment, while at the same time another 9 states lowered there standards simply by lowering their cut scores. At least when a new assessment is adopted that is at least known publically. When the cut score is lowered, it is all done behind closed doors, and student scores improve without anyone questioning why. States like Maine, Oklahoma and Wyoming that made big changes in their state assessments lowered standards in both math and reading in both grade ranges. But Arkansas just lowered its cut scores in all four subjects.

Across the country state leaders have been talking about high expectations for all students, and ensuring that all students are college and career ready. They have almost all signed on to the Common Core standard process that has worked to develop rigorous college and career readiness standards, and is currently developing the K-12 standards that will lead to college and career readiness. But so far all of that work has just been talk, and it is not yet clear whether states will step up to the plate and adopt those rigorous standards in their state. The recent report suggests that the state’s actions are speaking louder than words.