U.S. Department of Education Students at Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Mont., greet Secretary Duncan. May 27, 2009.

A federal study found that, in order to avoid sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law, almost one-third of states studied lowered their academic proficiency standards in recent years. No Child Left Behind was signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush in 2002. Under that law, according to the New York Times, "all schools must bring 100 percent of students to the proficient level on states’ reading and math tests by 2014, and schools that fall short of rising annual targets face sanctions." The study by the U.S. Department of Education's research arm found that some states "had been redefining proficiency down, allowing a lower score on a state test to qualify as proficient." From 2005 to 2007, 15 states lowered their proficiency standards in fourth- or eighth-grade math or reading. Those states, according to the study, that lowered one or more standards were: Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Eight that raised one or more standards were Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia. The states found to have lowest standards were Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee. South Carolina and Massachusetts were among the states with the highest standards. Common academic standards are being worked toward by 48 states, with Alaska and Texas declining to cooperate in the effort. In a statement released by Secretary Duncan, he said:

I am grateful that leaders from 48 states are working together to set standards that will determine whether students are college- and career-ready. Their work will set a common standard that all states will be able to use to measure the success of their students.

But it will take more than college- and career-ready standards to succeed in school reform. We'll need tests that fairly and accurately measure students' performance on those standards

. The study compared the results of the National Assessment of Education Programs and state tests in 2005 and 2007. The New York Times quotes Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as saying, "At a time when we should be raising standards to compete in the global economy, more states are lowering the bar than raising it. We’re lying to our children.”