The chairman of the state board of education still hopes to consider some form of graduation exams when the board meets in Pittsburgh next month, but his priority is ensuring that legislators have enough time to give input on any revised proposal.

"I don't want to commit to a schedule yet," Joseph Torsella said yesterday. "I want this to be meaningful. I don't want to presuppose an outcome just yet."

He said he is hoping to have a revised proposal to give to legislators in time to allow their input before the state board meets on July 15 and 16 at the University of Pittsburgh.

"I feel optimistic. I think there have been some rocky passages. I really do believe that there is a solution lurking in what we've seen over the last couple of months. I'm hopeful we can get something that addresses the reasonable objections and moves this forward," said Mr. Torsella, who has been meeting with legislators.

The state board already had given initial approval to proposed regulations to require high school students to pass six of 10 end-of-course state exams -- known as graduation competency exams or Keystone Exams -- when the state Legislature stopped the board from taking any action on regulations until after the end of this month.

In what department officials viewed as a separate action, the state Department of Education last month approved a $201-million, seven-year contract to develop end-of-course exams, model curricula and diagnostic tools. The tests would be voluntary and offered to school districts as a resource, not as a state-mandated graduation requirement.

That action set off criticism from legislators. The Republican-controlled state Senate last approved a bill that would prohibit Gov. Ed Rendell and Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak from moving forward with statewide graduation requirements for high school students unless such tests are established by the General Assembly.