HARRISBURG -- State education officials have agreed to scale back a controversial plan requiring high school students to pass a new set of exams before they could graduate.

The revised plan would allow new Keystone Exams to take the place of final exams and 11th-grade Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, said Joe Torsella, chairman of the state board of education. The exams would count for one-third of students' final grade in core subjects -- English, math, science and social studies -- beginning with the Class of 2015.

Students would have to pass six tests in the core subject areas.

Those who fail an individual test twice, even after receiving extra help, could instead do a project to demonstrate mastery over the subject, Mr. Torsella said during a news conference yesterday. Completion of a college application, for example, could fulfill a project requirement, he said.

School districts could reject the Keystone Exams and instead use their own tests, provided those assessments are approved by the state Department of Education.

Districts could waive the testing requirement for individual students in extraordinary circumstances, such as when there's been a death in the family or when a student transfers into a school in 12th grade and hasn't had a chance to take the prescribed curriculum.

"We've provided enough pathways so the fears the Keystones would work for some students but not all can be left behind," Mr. Torsella said yesterday.

The board of education is expected to vote on the proposal in mid-August. Approval by the U.S. Department of Education also is needed to use the Keystone Exams as replacements for the existing 11th-grade PSSA tests.

"While no one will be happy with every last word of this proposal, I urge all parties to see it for the careful, comprehensive and common-ground compromise it is," Mr. Torsella said.

The state board initially approved more stringent testing requirements, but legislators balked and threatened to block funding to pay for the tests. The proposal was so controversial that more than 200 school boards passed resolutions against it.

"This [latest proposal] is an effort to give us all a chance to move beyond the controversy that's dogged this issue," Mr. Torsella said.

Some lawmakers including Rep. Paul Clymer, Republican chairman of the Education Committee, and Rep. Stan Saylor, Republican chairman of the Policy Committee, say they weren't consulted about the compromise and are wary of it.

"They say they've got a compromise, but no Republicans in the Senate or House were involved in the discussions. They don't have the support they claim to have because they haven't really vetted it," Mr. Saylor said. "A lot of people want nothing to do with this."

Mr. Clymer said he is concerned about the cost of creating and administering the tests, which is expected to run $160 million over seven years.

The advocacy group PA Partnerships for Children, a longtime supporter of high school exit exams, supports the compromise because it guarantees remedial help and provides flexibility.

"High school students need to be prepared for the next phase of their lives, and we do them a disservice when we allow them to graduate without full confidence they have met the state academic standards," said the group's president and chief executive, Joan L. Benso. "This is a huge step forward for Pennsylvania."

State Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak has been a proponent of graduation exams, saying they increase academic rigor and increase the value of a diploma.

"Strengthening our graduation requirements is a powerful response to the business leaders, educators and parents who have called on the policymakers to ensure that a high school diploma is truly a ticket to success in the real world," he said yesterday.

The Senate Education Committee's Republican Chairman Jeffrey Piccola of Dauphin County supports the compromise.