Despite steady gains in statewide math and reading test scores,especially among middle and high school students,a record number of schools this year failed to meet their progress goals under the No Child Left Behind law, the state Department of Education said yesterday.

This year marked the second year of dramatic increases in the number of schools failing to meet the federal goals, known as "adequate yearly progress." Only 34 percent of schools — or 97 campuses — made AYP this year compared with 42 percent a year ago.

That means a total of 187 schools — or 66 percent — missed the benchmarks required to prevent them from potentially slipping further into sanctions under NCLB. It's the largest number of schools to miss their targets since testing began in 2002.

And some principals warn that the worsening fiscal crisis could further drag down AYP results in the coming year.

"We have a long way to go to meeting NCLB goals," Board of Education member Breene Harimoto said at a board meeting yesterday, during which the AYP results were released. "Nevertheless, we need to appreciate the gains that are being made."

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto agreed, saying that schools have "got to break that glass ceiling" of meeting tougher and tougher standards.

She added that the improvements in test scores are heartening. "What we're looking for is that growth, that our students have consistently moved up," she said.

High schools are having the toughest time meeting AYP standards.

Only three high schools statewide met the goals this year: Kalani, Kaiser and Campbell. High school students at University Laboratory School, a public charter school, also made AYP standards.

Kaiser High School principal John Sosa told BOE members yesterday that meeting AYP goals meant a lot of work throughout the school year to ensure that students were keeping up.

"I don't beat the teachers over the head with the HSA (Hawai'i State Assessment) scores," Sosa said. "What I ask them to do is raise the bar for everybody."

CONFLICTING DATA

Education officials say the large number of schools that did not meet their goals this year reflects what they believe to be the flawed and increasing expectations of the federal mandate.

They point to the across-the-board increases in statewide test scores as evidence that students are indeed succeeding.

About 65 percent of public school students are proficient in reading. That compares with 39 percent when testing began in 2002. Likewise, 44 percent of students demonstrated proficiency in math, compared with 19 percent in 2002.

AYP goals are "not quite the full story of whether a school is doing a good job of teaching," said Cara Tanimura, director of the state Department of Education's system accountability office.

"What AYP doesn't tell you is whether a school missed it by one kid or 100 kids. ... We do want to increase our AYP numbers, but more important is when we look at the assessment, it shows as a whole that students are learning and improving," Tanimura said.

Education officials also say NCLB's "all or nothing" approach is preventing schools from reaching their AYP goals. NCLB requires that each significant subgroup of students meet the set targets. There are a total of 37 subgroups that students are categorized in — from specific ethnicities, to various income levels, to English-language learners to special-needs students.

"For schools to have met AYP in 37 (subgroups) and hit it in every single one is extremely challenging," Tanimura said.

This year, 87 schools missed AYP by either one or two subgroups of students.

Niu Valley Middle School, for example, missed AYP because its special-education students did not meet proficiency standards in reading and math. Its general-population students exceeded AYP goals.

"As a school, we did extremely well," said Niu Valley principal Justin Mew.

Mew said 97 of the 765 students at the school have special education needs. In the coming school year, Mew said he hopes to reduce class sizes for special-education students and make other changes in hopes of bringing up their test scores.

"We will revisit our allocation of resources," he said. "We will look at how we're putting funds into special education ... (and) we're going to convene with the special-education team and brainstorm."

Penelope Tom, principal of Kaimuki High School, said the campus fell short of AYP standards this year — even though it has made significant gains in test scores over the past several years.

"We were disappointed, but at the same time ... what's important is we're making a continuous improvement," said Tom, whose school is now in "restructuring."

Tom said that for the coming school year, incoming 10th-graders who are struggling will get extra instruction in math and reading. "We know which ones need to have extra support and tutorial help," she said. "We've already built it in for next (school) year's schedule ... to double up our classes for math and language arts for those kids who are not making it."

BUDGET CUTS HURT

The AYP results come as schools are facing big budget cuts, which has some principals worried about how they'll be able to stretch their resources even further to target students who aren't meeting proficiency standards.

"With the cuts in the budget, it makes it a lot tougher," said Wade Araki, principal of Benjamin Parker Elementary School, which didn't meet AYP goals. He said his tighter budget will mean there will be fewer opportunities to bring in "casual hires" for intensive or specialized instruction.

The school has fallen short of AYP for years, even while making improvements in test scores.

"Every year we've made gains, but not the kind of gains that they require us to make," he said. "It's frustrating. We're slowly starting to turn around our school, but it's a steep climb."

About 30 percent of the 297 students at Benjamin Parker are in the special-education program, and many of those students are struggling to meet AYP goals.

Only 17 percent of special-ed students at the school were proficient in math this year, and 27 percent made proficiency in reading.

Scores for the school as a whole were higher — 43 percent of all students were proficient in math, while 57 percent were proficient in reading.

Though schools are seeing steady gains in test scores, improvements in math are slower going — one reason why fewer schools have been making AYP goals.

"Actually, reading is pulling some of the schools up. It's math proficiency in particular that seems to be giving problems," said Glenn Hirata, head of the DOE's system evaluation and reporting section.

Every grade level saw increases in reading scores, but sixth- and 10th-graders had particularly noteworthy gains. Sixth-grade reading proficiency jumped from 57 percent to 65 percent. Tenth-grade reading proficiency increased from 67 percent to 73 percent.

While math scores increased at every grade level except for third- and 10th-grade, officials say the proficiency levels still lag behind the achievement schools have seen in reading.

"But what really in math is lagging?" said Daniel Hamada, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and student support. "That's where we have to break it down to understand what benchmarks are we missing."

BAR STEADILY RISES

No Child Left Behind requires that schools show increasing proficiency each year until 2014, when 100 percent of students are expected to demonstrate a high level of skill in core subjects.

Schools that don't achieve adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years are subject to varying levels of sanctions that include state intervention and replacement of school staff.

This year, the number of schools facing some level of sanctions increased from 44 percent to 52 percent.

The number of school facing "restructuring," the most severe sanction under NCLB, increased from 78 to 91 schools.

Only one school successfully pulled itself out of restructuring this year.

Every three years, the benchmarks schools must reach to achieve "adequate yearly progress" are increased. This year was the second year that goals were set at 58 percent for reading and 46 percent for math.

Education officials say that as the benchmarks increase again in 2010-11, fewer and fewer schools will meet NCLB goals. By the time schools are expected to achieve 100 percent in 2014, few or no schools will be making AYP, they say.

"When it comes to 2011, 2012, (the goals) are really going to start to (increase) to reach 100 percent. It's tough now, but it's going to be really impossible eventually. That's not just for Hawai'i, that's for every state," Hirata said.

Hirata said there is a growing movement from the U.S. Department of Education and President Obama's administration to amend NCLB's "status model."

"We're looking forward to a new era under NCLB, where it is truly more transparent, more innovative and more oriented toward school improvement," Hirata said.