Close to Deadline, Wilson Signs Bill To Create Assessment System

By Millicent Lawton

With just hours to spare before the deadline for a veto, California Gov. Pete Wilson signed a bill last week that creates a new state-wide system for assessing student learning.

The new system, which is to begin with districts conducting voluntary basic-skills testing as early as next spring, replaces the California Learning Assessment System, known as CLAS.

Last year, Mr. Wilson vetoed a bill that would have continued that system, saying that CLAS lacked reliable scores for individual students and a strong...