As the director of guidance at Rock Bridge High School Marsha Uphoff, along with a team of guidance counselors, is working to ensure that students graduate on time and are prepared for life after high school.

But the counselors may have to change the way they prepare students.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is recommending that the state board of education consider changing its testing requirements for high school students.

Students currently take the MAP(Missouri Assessment Program) test, but may soon take end of course exams instead.

Some education officials think the change would be a positive one.

"If you have end of course exams in certain content area, then you have a common assessment statewide. Algebra one, English two, whatever course that we decide to have a state administered end of course exam." explained Stan Johnson with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education "There would be some consistency statewide within all those programs. And that's a good thing."

But, Uphoff isn't sure if she wants the testing policy changed.

"I have some concern over how we would actually utilize an end of course test," Uphoff said. "When would we actually give the test? And to have the end results scoring of the tests, to be able to use them as part of a semester grade. And how could that actually work in the school setting when we have many different starting and ending dates?"

The state hopes to decide which type of testing to use as early as next month.

But until then educators like Uphoff will just have to wait.

If the state does decide to make the switch from the map test to end of course examinations, students would have to take more course specific tests.

For example, instead of just taking one general math exam, students could potentially take one for Algebra and one for Geometry.