INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The percentage of Indiana students passing the state's standardized exam could fall by double digits under proposed pass-fail marks set to be voted on by the State Board of Education.

Democratic state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz has warned of many more students failing the ISTEP exam given last spring because it used new state standards that officials say are more difficult.

A proposal scheduled for a board vote Wednesday would see about 65 percent of students pass the language arts section, with about 59 percent passing the math section. More than 80 percent of students passed each part of the 2014 ISTEP exam.

Ritz has suggested not giving schools lower A-F performance grades based on drops in ISTEP scores, but that hasn't won backing from the Republican-dominated education board.