ATLANTA — Georgia students performed better on seven out of eight end-of-course tests this year.

Data released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education show that students saw gains in biology, U.S. history, physical sciences and American literature, among others. But the pass rate dropped for mathematics I — a class that combines algebra, geometry and statistics — from 64 percent last year to 61 percent.

The tests are 15 percent of students' grades in each class but will soon be required to graduate high school. The state is phasing out its high school graduation test in favor of the end-of-course exams, which officials say are a better gauge of how much students have learned.

The change will start with students entering ninth-grade this fall.