DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An education task force says it will present Iowa lawmakers with recommendations for implementing new state testing for students. The Assessment Task Force said Tuesday it was endorsing the Smarter Balanced assessments for public and accredited nonpublic schools starting with the 2016-17 school year. The assessments were developed by a consortium of states. The task force says it will be aimed at monitoring student progress in mathematics and reading.

The recommendations come amid heightened interest in Iowa’s system for student testing. Gov. Terry Branstad recently removed the state from an organization developing an assessment system for the Common Core education standards.

The task force is made up of more than 20 education leaders. It will present a final report in January to the Legislature and education leaders.