The State Council on Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote tonight on new rules for high school graduation.

The proposal would finalize a delay in the use of of standardized test scores for a diploma until 2020.

Test scores were supposed to become a requirement last year, but state lawmakers voted to pause the rule until 2017 after an outcry from some students, teachers and community groups. State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist then proposed extending the delay until 2020.

The Council has heard public testimony on the new rules and made a clarification, which allows school districts to begin using test scores as part of their high school graduation requirements as early as 2017. The rules also preserve existing graduation requirements such as coursework and the completion of a senior project or portfolio.