About 40percent of California's high school seniors know whether or not they're ready for math or English in the Cal State system.

Last spring, they volunteered to take an extended version of the already required California Standards Tests. It was the first year all students could take the Cal State test.

Cal State released the results from its Early Assessment Program Wednesday afternoon.

About 115,000 took the extended math test, which added about 15 minutes to the California Standards Tests. About 150,000 took the extended English test, which included an essay and added about an hour to the test.

"One of the real challenges was not to add a whole lot of time to the testing that goes on now (in high schools),' said David S. Spence, Cal State's executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.

About 63,500 students, or 55 percent of those tested, were deemed ready to take college-level math. About 33,700 students, or 22 percent of those tested, scored high enough to take college-level English.

If these students go to college at a Cal State campus, they won't have to take the university's placement tests.

Those who didn't pass Cal State's Early Assessment have their senior year of high school to study for next year's placement test.

Cal State professors and high school teachers are developing a writing and reading class for 12th-graders who need extra preparation. The class is being piloted this year and should be available statewide next fall.

The university is also offering on-line tutoring and practice tests for students who need help.

Cal State officials hope this program will spur students to better prepare for college.

The goal is for fewer freshman to need remedial classes. Last year, about half of Cal State's first-time freshmen needed remedial English. About one-third needed remedial math.

The Cal State board of trustees wants to cut this 10 percent within the next three years.

Remediation is an important issue for several reasons. For one, students don't get credit for remedial classes, so they don't make progress toward a degree while taking them. And the more remedial classes an entering student has to take, the less likely he or she is to earn a bachelor's degree.

This problem was more pronounced at Cal State San Bernardino, where two out of three first-time freshmen needed remedial English. Three of five needed remedial math.

The students who need remediation are not all poor students. The Cal State system admits the top third of California's high school students. All take four years of English and three years of math. Most have B averages.

The Cal State system "has some of the highest placement standards in the nation,' Spence said.

Students must score at least 550 out of 800 on that section of the SAT to be exempt from the placement test, Spence said.

Next week, the university system will release Early Assessment Program results for individual counties and high schools.