by Alan McBride

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. -- Education officials released the results of the new, more stringent Florida Comprehensive Assessment test, or FCAT 2.0, as it has been nicknamed.

The test results for ninth and tenth-graders were grim, to say the least.

Only 50 percent of the students who were tested were reading at or above grade level in the tenth grade. Slightly more, 52 percent, were reading at or above grade level in ninth grade.

The results mirror, though not to the same devastating degree, the results of the FCAT writing test. Only 30 percent passed the tougher test.

The low marks on the writing test prompted an emergency meeting of the Board of Education, in order for that body to lower the standards for a passing grade in the test. Officials were able to inflate the passing scores to the point where 80 percent of the students taking the test made the grade.

It is probable that education officials will also drop the standards on the reading test, as well, in order to ensure a lower failure rate.