While we may not reach 100 percent right away, 70 percent is within reach – and is an improvement.

So where is the outrage? Last week I suggested that 30 percent to 40 percent of Maine's high school seniors would likely not be getting a diploma this year, if that diploma were based on achieving state standards as embodied in Maine's Learning Results.

If this is the case, and state testing results suggest I am not far off, we aren't doing our kids any favors by graduating them unprepared for college or work.

My column was prompted by the report from the Department of Education's Diplomas Stakeholders Group.

That group recommended an approach to a Learning Results-based diploma that would not be implemented until 2016.

This is an embarrassingly delinquent timetable from a state that pioneered state standards 11 years ago with an approach that was to be fully implemented by 2008. In many other states that started after us, such as Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina, a standards-based approach has been fully implemented.

Moreover, these states and others have supplanted Maine in the top tier of student achievement as reflected in national testing results.

It is time to stop talking about new studies that need to be done, as the Diploma Stakeholders Group suggests, and, as the Nike ads boldly proclaim, "Just do it."

We know enough about assessments to implement a 70 percent solution in a year, or two at the most.

From there we can use continuous improvement efforts to refine this solution.

What would a 70 percent solution look like?

To me, the most promising approach is to build on good national or regional assessment tools currently available such as the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) assessments.

NWEAs are highly regarded, reliable, already used in many schools and have national norming data that would permit establishing a threshold score that must be achieved for competency.

NWEA assessments in math and reading align well with Maine's Learning Results. They could be adopted statewide with little modification.

Working from this start, end-of-course assessments could be developed in the four core subject areas of math, English, science and social studies. NWEA offers some of these assessments.

Such end-of-course assessments also are used by Virginia and in the New York Regency exams. Maine could no doubt license these, though they may require some modification to ensure alignment with Learning Results.

All of these approaches are "paper-and-pencil" based so the state might add a requirement for each senior to develop an exhibition in a specific content area.

Exhibitions permit a wide range of student discretion and creativity.

They are helpful in demonstrating important skills such as effective communication and problem solving.

This approach is simple, direct, and would give Maine a fundamental piece of assessment sufficient for the measurement and accountability of both students and teachers.

Without this assessment stake in the ground, Maine will continue to "fudge" on the question, "Are students actually learning what we expect them to learn?"

Many in the education community will say: "We can't do this. This is high-stakes testing." High-stakes testing has gotten a bad rap in some circles because of the worry that some students aren't good test takers or that this would result in "teaching to the test."

To these doubters I say: High-stakes testing is like other approaches to assessments.

If well-developed, and particularly if focused on end-of-course assessment, it can be very effective in indicating whether or not one has reasonable mastery of a subject area.

I am recommending proven approaches. They will tell us whether a student is proficient.

For those students who have difficulty with test-taking, extra support and additional opportunities could be made available.

For those who question "teaching to the test," I say that if it is a good test, why not?

Many other states use variants of a high-stakes approach for part of their high-school graduation requirements.

For such professions as the law and accounting, we use a rigorous examination process. My college degree at Oxford University came after three days of end-of-course exams. Nothing focuses the mind like a good exam.

I don't know about you, but I am not accepting a 2016 timeline for determining mastery of Learning Results.

Let us do what we can now – and what we can do is put the 70 percent solution for assessment in place.