TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State Board of Education members approved new history and social studies standards Tuesday for public schools despite concerns that they don’t do enough to ensure that students learn about minorities and their contributions.

The board voted 9-0 in favor of the guidelines, which will replace standards in place since December 2004 and overdue for revisions under state law. The Department of Education will use the guidelines to develop annual standardized tests for students and measure how well schools are teaching from the scores. The state hopes to start giving tests based on the new standards by the spring 2016.

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