State education officials will unveil details Thursday about new statewide English and math tests given to students in third through eighth grades.

The Maine Department of Education is using New Hampshire-based Measured Progress Inc. after the Legislature voted last spring to drop the previous test – the Smarter Balanced test used by 18 states – after one year because educators and parents said the test was flawed and difficult to administer and take.

The new tests, officials say, will take less time than the 7-hour average for Smarter Balanced and will be taken on a computer. Last year was the first time Maine students took the annual assessments on a computer.

Maine has worked with Measured Progress on state tests for more than 30 years. Before Smarter Balanced, Measured Progress developed Maine’s original state assessments and later administered the New England Common Assessment Program test, which was used after 2009.

Under the agreement, Maine will use the SAT as the annual state assessment for high school juniors.

State officials said five companies bid for the project. The amount of the Measured Progress contract will be announced Thursday.

It cost Maine about $3.5 million to administer the Smarter Balanced test, about $300,000 less than it did for the New England Common Assessment Program test.

The pushback against the Smarter Balanced test was tied up in the anti-Common Core movement that swept the nation last year. Critics said the standards are developmentally inappropriate and part of federal efforts to nationalize education.

Advocates said having a common set of academic standards across multiple states would benefit students and better prepare them for college or a career.

Maine’s standards were not changed, and are still aligned with Common Core.

Maine was one of 18 states participating in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which hired American Institutes for Research to create the online tests. Two other states besides Maine are dropping the test, and some states are suing Smarter Balanced because of problems administering it.