WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee appears to be making progress on a bipartisan update to the No Child Left Behind education law.

The committee passed a handful of amendments Wednesday morning and hopes to hold a final vote on the bill in the evening. 

Lawmakers are intent on ensuring that schools will continue to use annual standardized tests to measure student performance, but they are moving toward letting states determine how much weight to give the tests in evaluating school performance.

Amendments approved on Wednesday tended to focus on renewing programs designed to help low-income children or those with special needs. For example, lawmakers voted to renew a program that helps poor students qualify and pay for taking college level classes while in high school.