Mary Beth Berry

The request to delay the new standards was rebuffed on procedural grounds, but the commissioner and the board president defended them as appropriate.

State Board of Education votes to make the cut score for passing the Graduation Proficiency Assessment higher than the Department of Education suggested.

Statewide graduation rates are steady. Dropout rates are down. Absenteeism data is missing, as a federal waiver said it didn't have to be collected.

Starting in a few years, state standardized tests won't be given to sophomores, but graduation tests for juniors will include geometry as well as Algebra I.