OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s new academic assessments may eventually reduce the time students spend in state testing and get scores back to districts quicker, a state official said.

The state Department of Education’s Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System tests will replace the Nebraska State Accountability tests, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The new tests, which students will begin seeing in March, feature computer-adaptive questions for math and English. The computer will adjust the difficulty of the questions based on a student’s answers. If a student gets a question correct, the next question will be harder. A wrong answer will result in an easier question.

The adaptive approach more quickly and accurately pinpoints how well a student knows a subject, said Valorie Foy, the state’s director of assessment.

“It engages our struggling learners, who may have more trouble encountering those very, very difficult test items and may be more frustrated and thus engage in the test less,” she said. “So it gives them items so they’re not overwhelmed.”

This year’s tests results likely won’t be available until fall, but scores should be available more quickly in following years, Foy said.

The rollout is the state’s latest attempt to find a testing system that meets state and federal requirements without burdening students and teachers with excessive testing. There have been three different testing systems used in the past two decades.

State and federal laws require public school students to be tested in math, English and science. The results must be made public and are broken down by various categories including race, ethnicity, gender and poverty.

The new tests mark a shift in philosophy, said Nebraska Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt.

“Ultimately, the accountability piece is part of our system, but not the focus of our system,” he said, “and I think that’s a good thing and a good place for Nebraska to be.”

The scores will still be used to identify low-performing schools that need assistance.