(Lansing, MI)  --  The State Board of Education votes in favor of tougher standards for passing standardized tests.  The new cut-off scores for elementary, middle school and high school students go into effect in the upcoming school year.  In 2009, 95 percent of third-graders were proficient in math on the MEAP.  With the new stricter criteria, that number is expected to drop to 34 percent.  The number of schools failing to meet adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is currently at 14 percent.  That number will most likely jump to 66-percent when the standards get tougher.