In some states it’s tougher to meet annual progress goals

 As Missouri students prepare to take the state’s standardized test later this month and into next, some of their educators hope this will be the year that will move them off the state school improvement list. However, the odds are stacked against them.

Scott, New Madrid, and Mississippi counties have school districts—and individual buildings—that have failed to meet the state’s annual progress goals in math and reading on Missouri Assessment Program test for two or more years in a row. The federal No Child Left Behind law requires all children to be proficient in math and reading by 2014.

Missouri children take the most difficult state reading and math tests in the nation, according to research conducted by Time Magazine. The magazine’s findings, which were published in May 2007, were determined by comparing each state’s test to standardized tests given nationally. Should all states have similar standards? Read more in The Standard Democrat online.