As part of an ongoing effort to boost academic expectations and achievement, the state today made it harder for New Jersey’s third and fourth graders to prove their proficiency on annual tests. Under the new standards adopted by the state Board of Education, public school students who took the exams in May needed to get 50 percent of the answers correct to show proficiency on the language arts and math tests. Previously, the “cut scores” needed to be deemed proficient were between 40 and 45 percent. Read full Star Ledger article here.