By STEPHANIE BANCHERO
[…]The report shows huge disparities among the standards states set when their tests are converted to the NAEP’s 500-point scale. In eighth-grade reading, for example, there is a 60-point difference between Texas, which has the lowest passing bar, and Missouri, which has the highest, according to the data. In eighth-grade math, there is a 71-point spread between the low, Tennessee, and the high, Massachusetts.
The eight states that tightened standards between 2007 and 2009 were Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Dakota, West Virginia, Georgia and New Jersey. New Jersey also lowered its standards on one test.
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