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The proportion of Long Island high school graduates earning Regents diplomas has risen above the 90 percent mark - approaching the goal of universal college-prep training first envisioned by school reformers more than a decade ago.

Graduation rates released by the state - and including first-ever breakdowns by race and ethnicity - show the proportion of Nassau graduates obtaining such diplomas rose to nearly 93 percent last spring, from about 92 percent two years ago. Meanwhile, Suffolk's figure increased to nearly 92 percent, from 90 percent. Numbers have more than doubled since the late 1980s.

Despite the good news for schools, many teachers contend that improved results have come at a high price. One major complaint - among math teachers especially - is that the state has set passing scores so low on exams required for Regents diplomas that students are mastering less of the subjects than they think.

State Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch has indicated that passing requirements may be raised. While Regents diplomas are not mandatory, they will be required starting with the class of 2012.

Many students who no longer value Regents credentials now aim higher. Increasingly, such students seek International Baccalaureate diplomas or designations as Advanced Placement scholars - both of which require passing college-level exams. Of the five Island districts offering baccalaureate programs, four have come on board in the last decade.

Still, the rise in Regents diplomas represents a dramatic upswing from 1988-89 - a benchmark year used in state measurements - when fewer than 45 percent of Island teens earned such credentials. Recipients include growing numbers of black and Hispanic students who struggled in the past.

"We're clearly making progress, there's no doubt about that," said Ronald Friedman, Great Neck superintendent and president of the Nassau Council of School Superintendents. "And what I think we ought to do is celebrate for about a day, and then take a look at the standards and decide which ones to tighten up."

As minorities narrow the performance gap with whites on the Island, some districts the state identified as trouble spots show gains. Brentwood, the Island's largest district, which has the biggest Hispanic enrollment, awarded Regents diplomas to 90.4 percent of its graduates last year, up from 85.4 percent the year before.

In Wyandanch, the proportion of Regents recipients jumped to 67.7 percent last year, up from 48.9 percent. Superintendent Mary Jones hails the state's efforts to raise academic expectations. "The students who could work a little harder, who could get five points more on a test, 10 points more, we don't want to give them an out," she said.

Many teachers say, however, that the requirement to bring every student into the Regents track has resulted in watered-down standards. For example, a new Regents algebra exam administered in January required students to earn only 31 points out of a possible 87, or 36 percent, to score a passing 65.

"We are destroying math education in New York State, and it will bite us five years from now, when all these kids go to college with their false sense of security," said Suzanne Cuzzo, a Suffolk high school math teacher.

Once reserved for the academically advanced, Regents diplomas have become increasingly common statewide, though urban areas lag far behind the suburbs. Expansion began in 1996, the year after state Education Commissioner Richard Mills, in his first major policy initiative, called for phasing out local diplomas in favor of state-endorsed Regents credentials.

Mills, who steps down at the end of this month, announced last week that 83.7 percent of the state's graduates earned Regents diplomas last year, compared to 83.4 percent the previous year. But state officials voice concern that Regents graduation rates are not improving for special education students, and the graduation figures exclude students who dropped out - 10 percent of the class of 2008 statewide and 4 percent on the Island.

Moreover, more than 35 percent of graduates in upstate cities such as Buffalo still graduate with less rigorous local diplomas.

For Regents diplomas, students must pass at least five exams with scores of 65 or better. For local diplomas, passing scores are 55 to 64.

Under state rules, students now in ninth grade will no longer be able to obtain local diplomas as seniors. The sole exception is those in special education, who constitute the majority of the 8 percent of Island students getting such credentials now.

The state's policymaking Board of Regents faces the touchy question of whether to stick with its current phase-out schedule or grant an extension.

"I think we've got to move away from local diplomas, because those things don't represent a rigorous level," Tisch said. "We want to do this carefully and thoughtfully, we don't want to send the system off a cliff, but we want students to be prepared."