More math? Oklahoma bill could change some requirements to graduate high school

Oklahoma students could be required to take a fourth math credit to graduate high school, but they would have an extra year to complete it, if a new proposal becomes law.

The state House overwhelmingly approved a measure on Wednesday in a 95-2 vote to add a fourth math credit to graduation requirements. House Bill 3278 would allow students to begin taking high school credits in eighth grade.

The bill would take effect in the 2025-26 school year. It now advances to the Senate for consideration.

Two of the credits would have to be Algebra I and either Algebra II or geometry. The other two credits must be any math course with “content and/or rigor above Algebra I.”

This could include traditional upper-level courses like Algebra II, geometry, trigonometry, calculus and statistics. Schools also could apply a math credit to a postsecondary career and technology program or to a course that teaches math through real-world application.

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In Oklahoma City Public Schools, this could mean an HVAC or construction trade class could count as a math credit, if the local school board approves it, said Superintendent Sean McDaniel during a Monday board meeting.

“It would make sense because of the amount of math that kids will use in those pathways that we might be able to award credit,” McDaniel said.

Bill would also change some career credit requirements for Oklahoma high school students

Existing requirements to complete four credits of English language arts, three credits of laboratory science and three credits of history would be unchanged.

Six high school credits would have to relate to a student’s aspirations after high school, under the bill.

Oklahoma students already have to create an Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) to prepare for entering college, the military or the workforce. The bill would mandate that six courses, or “pathway units,” correspond to students’ ICAP goals.

Mandatory courses in English, math, science and history would count toward these credits. Students also could fulfill the requirement by taking a world language, computer technology, fine arts, Advanced Placement credits, college concurrent enrollment or Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), among other options.

The bill’s author, Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, said the measure encourages students to take classes that are most relevant to their career goals.

“We are revamping this so that their pathway will fit whatever they deem necessary and important to them,” she said during discussion on the House floor.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma could require more math credits to graduate high school