a. The Thomas Fordham Institute, led by reformer Chester Finn Jr. , has been analyzing state standards for more than a decade and concludes, "Two - thirds of U. S. children attend schools in states with mediocre standards or worse. " In order to meet the requirement set the No Child Left Behind Act, every state set lower assessment standards for students. worked extremely hard to help its students. assessed its students by way of sampling. focused all attention on reading and mat