Oregon Public Broadcasting

Western states, including Washington and Oregon, now have the money to develop a national standardized test to replace the array of state assessments.

The federal Department of Education awarded the princely sum of $160 million to a consortium of 31 states led by Washington state.

The consortium will use the money to develop one common set of achievement tests for use nationwide in elementary, middle and high schools.

In Olympia, state schools superintendent Randy Dorn says a 4th grader in Oregon should have "the same expectations and somewhat similar instruction as a 4th grader in Washington."

Randy Dorn: "We go through this every year, especially at the high school level, of students that can graduate or not graduate because of different standards from other states and everything."

The new national standardized tests are supposed to be ready for the 2014-15 school year. Students will take this test online.

Large groups of students took their Washington or Oregon school tests online earlier this year.

They scored the same as their peers using traditional pencil and paper.

On the Web:SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium