Bismarck School Board members voted 3-1 Monday night to increase graduation standards for students in hopes of bringing all students to proficient levels of math by 2013.

Board member Dan Kuntz voted against the measure.

Students will be required to take an extra year of math at the high school level and acquire 22 credits instead of 21 to graduate. Students also will have to take Algebra I to graduate, which they can take over a one- or two-year period.

Students graduating in six years will be the first required to meet the new standards.

"Algebra is one of the key areas students are tested on and will need later in life," board president Marcia Olson said. "If our students learn that, it will help them whether they are college bound or not."

Currently, students must take two credits of math to graduate and can fulfill that requirement by the end of their sophomore year. Also, students aren't required to take Algebra I and fulfill the credit requirement by taking career and business classes. Those classes will now be offered as electives.

No Child Left Behind - federal legislation - requires all fourth-, eighth and 12th-graders to be proficient on state assessments in reading and math by 2013. Administrators said the math portion of the assessment includes algebra and geometry questions that some students in the district are unable to answer because they haven't taken those courses.

Boosting math credit requirements and forcing students to take Algebra I also will help students meet college entrance requirements, assistant superintendent John Salwei said. North Dakota colleges require freshmen to have three high school math credits in algebra, geometry or calculus classes.

Kuntz said the district's requirement will give high school students who are college bound a false sense of security if they opt to take Algebra I over a two-year period.

Students who take Algebra I over two years will receive a math credit for each year, as opposed to those who take the course in a year and earn one credit. To get into college, students must have two credits in classes higher than Algebra I.

Kuntz also was concerned students who were equipped to take algebra in one year would be encouraged to take the easy road by drawing it out for two years.

"I'm concerned some students will see this as an opportunity to take a less vigorous course of study," Kuntz said. "It doesn't allow students to challenge themselves. I'm not convinced this proposal will get us there (to proficiency). There is the potential it will have the opposite effect."

Salwei said that giving the option to take the course over two years is beneficial for students who have difficulty grasping algebra concepts. The two-year course gives teachers extra time to help students develop the concepts and apply them to formulas.

Olson said there is little difference between spreading Algebra I over two years and the current setup, where students can take a pre-algebra course before taking algebra. Pre-algebra will no longer be offered.

"The way we are teaching it now is an easier way out," Salwei told board members. "This assists students who are not ready to hit the ground running in Algebra I."

(Reach reporter Sheena Dooley at 250-8225 or sheenadooley@ndonline.com.)