Changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Law could help some North Dakota Schools measure up.

For North Dakota, the measurement was unattainable by 169 school districts, including the Bismarck and Mandan school districts. This was up from 41 districts the previous year. The reason for the increase was a change in how many students it took to be proficient in reading and math.

"It presents some challenges," Bismarck Superintendent Paul Johnson said. "You're making progress, then all of a sudden, the requirements go up, and it tends to be disappointing."

The Bismarck district missed adequate yearly progress, along with 13 of its schools.

The yardstick to measure schools is adequate yearly progress, which looks at how many students know basic knowledge in reading and math, the percentage of graduates and percentage of students attending school. Every couple years, the percentages to meet or exceed in each category increases. The goal is to get all students meeting the requirements.

How that is calculated could change, depending on Congress and the next president. Educators hope for a model that follows a class and gives greater accommodations to students with disabilities.

"Right now, I hope there will be change," Mandan Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said.

He presented the district's adequate yearly progress results to the school board Monday. Only two of the district's schools, Roosevelt and Lewis and Clark elementary schools, met the requirements. The other three elementary schools, the junior high and the high school did not meet the requirements.

The district met the requirements last year, as well as the schools. For now, they have three years to get the scores up to the new percentage requirements until the requirements change again.

But Volesky said he would like to see the testing proficiency start to be based on a growth model. This would follow a class, instead of using a three-year average for a class, as it does now. Johnson doesn't foresee a change to that law that would affect the Bismarck district, because the growth model, might only apply to disadvantaged schools, he said.

Regardless, it could take time for changes to come out of Washington with the presidential election.

In the meantime, the districts will focus on what they need to do to reach the goals before it raises again in three years. For Bismarck, this means working on raising individual student scores.

The law has made some improvements in public education.

"Accountability has forced us to examine our practice," Johnson said.

The focus on reading and math comes from what is measured through tests, he said. Schools need to be conscientious to keep curriculums balanced, he said.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)