JEFFERSON CITY — The State Board of Education has adopted a set of tests for public school students that are based on the national Common Core standards that have come under legislative attack.

The tests, covering language and math, will be given in the spring.

In a statement issued by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE, the agency said this year would be the first time 16 states will give the same assessments created through the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

Last year, Missouri’s General Assembly passed a measure designed to replace Common Core standards with an in-state developed test.

Critics charged that DESE had accepted the national standards without sufficient input from parents, teachers and the Legislature.

Common Core supporters have argued that national standards and evaluations will give each state a better understanding as to how it ranks among the other states in the levels of proficiency among students.