INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Pence has signed an executive order to shorten the ISTEP+ exam to lessen the burden on students, their parents and teachers.

Pence announced at a news conference Monday that he was hiring an outside consultant to find ways to shorten Indiana's revamped statewide assessment test from the up to 12{ hours it's been projected to take.

Pence sent a statement on Twitter saying,'' Doubling the length of the 2015 ISTEP+ test is unacceptable.'' The test last year took about five hours to complete.

The test was revamped to align with new state academic standards adopted last year.

Pence's action came hours after Democratic schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz requested a special meeting of the State Board of Education to discuss the longer test time.