An average of about 20 percent of third through eighth grade students in St. Lawrence County met the standard for math and English in last April’s student assessment tests, according to the state Education Department.

In a statement released along with the data, State Education Commissioner John King emphasized that “the results do not reflect a decrease in performance for schools or students. The new assessments are a better, more accurate tool” for gauging progress toward the new, more rigorous Common Core national standards.

• Of 1,100 third graders tested in St. Lawrence County, 23.1 percent were rated as proficient or better in English, or what the state Education Department calls English Language Arts, and 20.7 percent were proficient or better in mathematics

• Of approximately 1,085 fourth graders tested in the county, 19.6 percent were proficient or better in English, 22 percent in math

• Of about 1,095 fifth graders, 21.2 percent reached competence in English, 16.8 percent in math

• Of about 1,130 sixth graders, 26.3 percent were proficient or better in English, 17.3 in English

• Of about 1,165 students in seventh grade, 27.6 percent were competent in English, 17.9 percent in math

• Of about 1,087 eighth graders, 32.3 were proficient in English, 18.7 percent in math.

King said the results will be “sobering” for students, educators and parents, but that they are a measure of the new higher standards they are aspiring to..

“These scores reflect a baseline and a new beginning,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch.