SALEM - The number of Oregon high school students who graduated armed with proof that they met state benchmarks in reading, writing, math and science dipped to near historic lows during the 2005-2006 school year, according to data released Wednesday by the Oregon Department of Education.

Just 31 percent of the class of 2006 earned a “certificate of initial mastery,” better known as a CIM, which attests that a student has passed state tests in core academic subjects and public speaking, and turned in eight acceptable classroom work samples. That's down from the 37 percent of students who graduated with a CIM in 2005.

The CIM system was never particularly popular at Oregon high schools, where teachers and principals complained that it was clunky and expensive to implement. Students never embraced the system either, especially since earning the certificate wasn't broadly required for either graduation or college admissions.

More recently, Oregon education authorities have signaled they, too, are ready to abandon it in favor of tougher course requirements for a diploma, a plan backed by the state Board of Education in January.

The new plan also would require students to demonstrate a variety of “essential skills” before they could graduate, including the ability to read and interpret a variety of texts and to apply mathematics in different settings.

Legislators are scheduled to consider the graduation requirement proposals, and a phase-out of the CIM system, this session, and Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proposed budget includes a $10 million earmark to help schools implement the new graduation requirements.

It's not yet clear what might replace the CIM, but some legislators have argued for an “off-the-shelf” national test, like the ACT or the SAT. Such an option, they say, would give a clearer picture of how Oregon students are doing compared to their counterparts nationally; opponents argue that it's better to have a test tailored to Oregon-specific standards.

Figures reveal the spotty use of the CIM system. For example, nearly 60 percent of the 468 graduates at Beaverton's Sunset High School earned the CIM last year, but only 10 percent of the 439 graduates at Roseburg High School did so.

“We target students who haven't met them, make opportunities for them to retest. And at graduation, they are recognized,” said Rick Collins, an assistant principal at Sunset. “We believe this is a minimum standard that all students should meet, and we expect students to go beyond it.”

Until this year, CIM rates had been steadily rising, from just 26 percent of students earning the certificate in 2001 to a high of 37 percent in 2005.

Overall, the state department of education reported Wednesday that 37,912 students completed four years of high school in 2006. Of those, 1,159 received “modified” diplomas, usually given to special education students, and 3,200 spent four years in high school without earning a diploma. Such students usually lacked only a few credits, and planned to get them in summer school, the state reported.

An additional 470 students received an “honorary” diploma, given to foreign exchange students.

Almost 8,900 of the 10,345 students who earned a CIM were white, compared with just 366 Hispanic students and 114 black students. Students of all ethnicities also were more likely to earn a CIM if they came from wealthier families, the state's data shows, while slightly more female students earned the certificate than males.