LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is reducing the length of standardized tests for students.

The state Education Department says testing time for 11th-graders will drop by up to eight hours next spring. Third-, fourth-, sixth- and seventh-graders will see testing times decline by 2 ½ hours.

The decision was announced Thursday in the agency’s online newsletter.

State officials say a survey of students, parents and administrators showed concerns over assessments taking up too much class time and that the overall testing experience is too long, especially in reading and writing.

Teachers’ unions are applauding the move as a step in the right direction toward more teaching time.

Students last spring began taking the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP. It replaced the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test that was used for decades.