Most California students will spend about 2½ hours less filling in bubbles on state tests next school year, thanks to a little-known law that takes effect in July.

Every year, children in second to 11th grades take two statewide tests spread over eight to 10 days. One compares them with students across the nation; the other gauges how well they know California's academic standards.

Under the new law, only third- and eighth-graders will take the test comparing California to other states. Second- through 11th graders will continue to take the standards test. The move will save the state about $6.5 million.

Parents and educators welcomed the cut at a time when many are concerned about testing fatigue for students and test-related stress for teachers. "Hopefully, we can go back to educating children rather than teaching to the test," said Mike Henderson, a math teacher at Dartmouth Middle School in Hemet.

Tyler Goosen, an eighth-grader at Temecula Middle School, said he would use his extra time to study more. He said standardized tests aren't hard. They're too long.

"You're just doing problem after problem," Tyler said by phone. "You get really bored."

But others said they would miss the information the test provided.

"I like to see how we measure up with other states," said Gayle Cloud, a Riverside school board member and mother of six children.

The tests

The new law limits the California Achievement Test, sixth edition, also known as the CAT-6, to third- and eighth-graders. The test compares each California student to a national sample. Meanwhile, students still will take the California Standards Test, which gauges how well they're doing on the state's academic standards in English and math in second through 11th grades, as well as science and social science for high school students.

The bill was part of last year's budget negotiations, said Rick Simpson, policy director for Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles. Legislators want to shift the focus of the state's testing system toward California standards. They chose to keep the CAT-6 at two grade levels as a benchmark to compare California against the nation, he said by phone.

In October, then-Gov. Davis signed the bill authored by Assemblyman Marco Antonio Firebaugh, D-Los Angeles. The law's impact showed up this month as a $6.5 million savings in Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget proposal.

Though legislators must approve another law governing California's testing system later this year, Simpson said he expected the changes would stay in place.

The state standards test is more important because it assesses what students actually learn in the classroom, said Anita LaVelle, assistant superintendent in the Corona-Norco Unified School District.

"It's much more meaningful to us," she said by phone.

The standards test accounts for 80 percent of the state's Academic Performance Index rating system, while the CAT-6 has little weight.

The impact

The new law helps streamline California's testing system, which currently includes two state tests, a federal assessment and a high school exit exam, said Christine McGrew, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools office. Most districts also have their own batteries of tests, she said by phone.

Every year, children spend anywhere from 7 hours and 20 minutes in second grade to 12 hours, and 35 minutes in 11th grade taking the two statewide tests, according to state documents. The cut will shorten these sessions by approximately 2 hours, and 20 minutes to 2 hours, and 45 minutes, LaVelle said.

But they won't change the way Riverside County schools prepare for testing, said Tom Barrett, a testing administrator with the Riverside County Office of Education. Schools mostly focus on the standards, he said by phone.

The cuts will be a relief for high school students, who take more tests than elementary and middle school pupils, including college entrance exams, tests for college-prep classes and a high school exit exam, Barrett said.

Shrinking the state's testing program will take away some of the stress on teachers, said Bill Hedrick, president of the Rialto Education Association and a Corona-Norco school board member. The state's emphasis on tests has led to cuts in programs such as arts, music and physical education, he said by phone.

"Indirectly, test prep is all we do," Hedrick said.

Test results can be confusing at first, but they yield good information when examined closely, said Kelley Collins, the parent of three Temecula students. Collins also said she has trouble measuring her children's progress from year to year because tests keep changing.

"They keep flip-flopping," Collins said by phone.