By Jane Roberts - The Commercial Appeal -

More than half the students in Tennessee public schools failed state tests last spring based on new proficiency standards.

Gov. Phil Bredesen warned state residents last week that the results would not be pretty.

Friday, the State Board of Education passed new "cut" scores for the state tests, retooled last year to match more rigorous curriculum and standards the state began adopting in 2007.

Based on the new scores, more than 52 percent of third-graders flunked math in the just-finished school year.

And the news gets worse with each grade. In grade six, for instance, nearly 70 percent flunked math; in grade eight, 75 percent failed.

Reading in most grades was slightly better, with the failure rate at 52 percent for fifth-graders and moving up to 57 percent for eighth-graders.

"I think that everyone in the room fully realized that tough work lies ahead and that there would ultimately be real consequences for students, our districts and our state," said Memphian Teresa Sloyan, a member of the State Board of Education.

"For the first time we will know where our children are in terms of their academic preparedness."

In the test taken in the spring of 2009, 91 percent of Tennessee students scored advanced or proficient.

Under the new standards, students have to show mastery of a subject to score proficient or advanced.

Assistant state commissioner of education Bruce Opie compares the new standards to moving the goalposts for a field-goal kicker.

"Last year, the kicker got 10 field goals. He only got three this year. He is still as good a kicker, but we set the bar back," he said.

Parents will receive letters from their children's schools by early October telling them how their students rank. A month later, the state will issue its report card, showing how each school in the state performed and setting the wheels in motion for parents to transfer to a higher-performing school under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

"We needed a bigger and better mousetrap," said Memphis City Schools Supt. Kriner Cash. "Now the baseline information is here. It's real and has implications," he said.

"We can't disappear. We've now got to provide all the support and assistance to the districts in the state to ensure that these children meet the new standards."

Because hundreds of schools presumably could fall out of compliance under standards set in the NCLB law, the state is seeking a one-year waiver from the guidelines.

"We're asking for a little flexibility," Opie said.

Thirteen schools statewide, including eight in Memphis, are in line for drastic restructuring, based on poor progress by NCLB measures, even before the 2010 test was given.

Several dozen more are on the cusp, Bredesen said last week. Without a waiver, "they are all going to get body-slammed and be into the accountability system," which requires state takeover.

"We have to help our children understand we want a world-class education for them and their children, and we have to start now," said Betty Mallott, Memphis City Schools board member.

Tennessee has borne the brunt of national jokes because of the low bar it set for its students. In 2007 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lambasted the state for inflating student performance. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education showed Tennessee at No. 43 in national math achievement.

Since 2007, Bredesen has pushed for higher standards.

"One of the hardest things is going to be keeping our noses to the grindstone for the next two to three years and really make changes," he said.

The new standards are aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, long the gold standard of student progress.

"We told 84 percent of the kids in the state they were proficient," Bredesen said. "When we went to NAEP, 21 percent were proficient. We had easy tests."

-- Jane Roberts: 529-2512