Mandan High School special education teachers successfully pushed for an extra quarter-credit a semester for students assigned to a special education resource class.

The Mandan School Board approved changing the class to a half-credit per semester at its meeting Monday.

Students with individual education plans, called IEPs, are required to take the class. An IEP tells teachers, administrators, the student and parents how the student will accomplish academic tasks because of a disability.

The state requires the class, which once focused on tutoring students. The teachers explained at the meeting that they don't do that so much as give them skills to complete tasks on their own. They also teach the students life skills, such as resume writing, and for some students, proper kinds of behavior.

"It's nothing but a benefit to the kids," Principal Mark Andresen said, in support of the change.

The additional 1/4-credit will serve two purposes. Classes worth more credit are taken more seriously, according to the teachers, and it will help this group of students meet the required number of credits to graduate, which is 21 credits and will change to 22 in 2008. The class is taken in place of an elective class.

The students will also receive a letter grade instead of pass-fail. The letter grade will be based on how the student will meet state standards, which are being developed.

The board also was asked for input on the district's application for AdvancEd, which is part of the former North Central Association on Accreditation. The district will submit its report to the evaluation chairman by the end of August and will have a site visit in October.

This is the same organization that gave district accreditation to the Bismarck School District earlier this year. The process looks at what the district already is doing well and in what areas it can improve. Over time, the purpose is to focus on continual improvement.

An update from architect Al Fitterer showed the high school air-conditioning project is nearing completion, and the new middle school construction project is coming together with a crane lifting the gymnasium walls into place.

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