HARRISBURG -- Gary Browne has never been a good test-taker, but says he managed to get good grades in high school and to succeed in his classes at Community College of Philadelphia.

He wonders where he'd be now, though, if he had to pass exit exams to get his high school diploma.

Those kinds of exams yesterday moved a step closer to being required in every Pennsylvania high school.

A State Board of Education committee threw unanimous support behind the proposal to add 10 such tests, triggering a vote of the full board today. Passage is expected, despite an outcry from teachers and students like Mr. Browne.

"I'm really good with getting concepts and things, but I never did good when it came to tests. I would get nervous and make stupid mistakes," Mr. Browne, 22, said.

There are a lot of students like him in Pennsylvania, said Robert Radnish, who teaches physics and computer science at Meadville High School in Crawford County.

"I can have a student that performs poorly on tests but still receives a B in the class because I think that's a fair evaluation of what a student can do," he said.

What isn't fair, he said, is allowing one test to prevent an otherwise qualified student from graduating.

Proponents say the tests, also known as graduate competency exams, ensure diplomas are meaningful, that students meet minimum academic standards, and that graduates are ready for higher education and the work force.

"It's a chance for the education system to prove that the job we've been doing is a good job. There's a better chance of doing that when you have clearly defined targets," state Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak said after the committee meeting.

"The nice thing is that we'll be able to measure a student against standards that are the same whether they're in Pittsburgh Public Schools, whether they're in Upper St. Clair, whether they're in Bradford or Erie or Philadelphia or Johnstown."

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education also supports exit exams.

"No student in Pennsylvania should graduate from a Pennsylvania high school without demonstrating proficiency in academic standards," said Vice Chancellor Peter Garland.

Meanwhile, teachers who testified said there are other indicators of proficiency that cannot be tested with paper and pen. Tests can't evaluate teamwork, communication, creativity, critical thinking and other skills that show preparation for college and work, they said.

Under the proposal, the testing requirement would take effect with the class of 2014. The exit exams would be given in place of final exams, and students who fail would have several opportunities to try again after they have received help in deficient areas. They must pass six of the 10 tests to graduate.

Alternatively, schools could give their own final exams with state approval.

"Some schools probably have invested enough into their final exams to make sure they are aligned with our standards. We'll be able to validate that, and they can use the same tests," Mr. Zahorchak said.

Accommodations would be made for special education students, and exceptions are allowed for students who pass the 11th-grade Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, advanced placement or International Baccalaureate program exams.

The cost to develop the state tests would be about $50 million, Mr. Zahorchak said. It would cost another $36 million a year to implement, administer and score them.

He plans to ask the Legislature to appropriate funding to cover the costs.

"The investment is minor in comparison to the cost of not doing this," he said. "We have 57,000 students a year graduating with empty diplomas."

If the State Board of Education approves the plan today, it goes before the House and Senate education committees for comment and then to the Intergovernmental Regulatory Review Commission, which will hold hearings to ensure the change doesn't conflict with other laws and regulations.

State Sen. Jim Rhoades, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, has already said he will try to block it.

"A high school diploma is an accumulation of 12 years of tests, quizzes and homework; 12 years of gym classes and research papers; 12 years of getting along with other students," said Mr. Rhoades, a former teacher and principal. "We're going to tell our students, our teachers and our schools that those 12 years don't really matter, that the effort ... wasn't really worth it."