Missouri is moving forward with testing for the national Common Core educational standards for schoolchildren.
The State Board of Education this week approved minimum scores on new assessments to gauge how well students perform on the tests.
Missouri students will take the new test aligned with the Common Core standards for the first time this spring. The national standards in Common Core set goals for what students should learn in kindergarten through high school.
A state law passed last year prohibits scores from the first year of testing to be used against schools.
There are no estimates for how well Missouri children will do on the test, but nationally between 32 and 39 percent of students in states with Common Core are expected score at proficient levels.