Schools are using new state and federal achievement numbers to tailor instruction in hopes of boosting student scores in the coming year.

The federal government's achievement results, called Adequate Yearly Progress under the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, were released on Thursday, along with the state progress measure, the Utah Performances Assessment System for Students.

More than 85 percent of Utah County public schools met state and federal expectations. The Provo and Alpine school districts did not make AYP districtwide, while the Nebo School District did.

In Nebo, Friday was declared an assessment day, with teachers reviewing their students' scores on various tests and deciding how to use the information. Four of the district's 35 schools fell short of AYP.

Last year, Park Elementary in Spanish Fork missed AYP but made the mark this year. Last year, the school had struggled with math scores for its special education students.

Principal Sandra Jarvis said the school used a state program that lets students review information they've learned so far, and focused on staff development and sharing best practices in math. The school also kept a close watch on how subgroups were performing throughout the year, she said.

The special education subgroup is one of the most problematic for schools across the country and has been a point of contention between states and the federal government.

"They have a learning disability and we know they do, and yet they are asked to take the test that is on their grade level, and it can be difficult for them to pass," Jarvis said. "Every year, we'll work hard to help students pass that, but some kids have a disability that may not allow them to be able to pass, so I have a little bit of a hard time with that particular subgroup being included."

Spanish Fork High School struggled last year with math scores among its Hispanic population.

"We've had an influx of quite a few Hispanic kids, and we sometimes don't have them long enough to make any adjustments for them," said principal Dave McKee.

The school used its AYP data last year to look at how it was serving all students and do better, he said.

This year Hispanic students at Spanish Fork High performed to AYP standards in math, but struggled with language arts.

On Friday, McKee said his teachers talked about ways to improve.

"We feel like it's been a very good day for us to identify and come up with a plan that will help down the road," he said.

Six out of 24 Provo schools missed AYP.

Ray Morgan, assistant superintendent in the Provo School District, said some Provo schools made improvement and served students well, while still not meeting the federal government's requirements for AYP.

Failing in one academic area of subgroup means a failing mark for the entire school, and while that system does prompt some careful thought, it's not the only measure to consider, Morgan said.

"There's a value in having educators look at the individual performance of your subgroups and asking yourself, 'Are we satisfied with the progress these students are makingfi' and that's the big question," Morgan said. "So whether or not a school made AYP is not as critical to me."

Seth Sorensen, assessment director for the Nebo School District, said the data also helps the district to better serve individual students.

"To be honest, I think that AYP has not been entirely a bad thing," Sorensen said. "I think it has caused us, even more so than we did before, to look at our individual students and see where their strengths and weaknesses really are."

John Jesse, director of research and evaluation for the Alpine School District, where seven out of 63 schools failed to meet AYP, said he was happy with the progress the district made.

Forbes Elementary in American Fork identified students who did not make mastery last year, when the school failed to meet AYP, and reversed their status this year.

"I use it as a good success story this year," he said. "Did that help studentsfi I'd say it probably did."

Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or annac@heraldextra.com.

To make AYP schools must show:

attendance rate of 93 percent or graduation rate of 85.7 percent at high schools

participation rate of 95 percent of students in sub-groups of 40 or more students

passing rates of 71 percent in language arts, 64 percent for math in elementary schools

passing rates of 70 percent for language arts and 47 percent for math in secondary school subjects

Utah County schools that did not make AYP, and contributing factors

Alpine School District

American Fork High

language arts: special education students subgroup

Lehi High

math: economically disadvantaged students subgroup

Mountain View High

language arts: limited-English proficient subgroup

math: students with disabilities subgroup

Orchard Elementary

language arts: students with disabilities subgroup

Orem High

language arts: limited-English proficient subgroup

Orem Junior High

math and language arts: limited-English proficient subgroup

Pleasant Grove High

language arts; students with disabilities subgroup

Vineyard Elementary

math: limited-English proficient subgroup

Nebo School District

Payson High

language arts: students with disabilities subgroup

Santaquin Elementary

math: limited-English proficient and economically disadvantaged subgroups

math: Hispanics subgroup

Spanish Fork High

language arts: Hispanic subgroup

Wilson Elementary

language arts: students with disabilities subgroup

Provo School District

Centennial Middle

language arts: Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, limited-English proficient and students with disabilities subgroups

math: students with disabilities subgroup

Dixon Middle

language arts: students with limited English proficiency

Franklin Elementary

math: students with disabilities subgroup

Grandview Elementary

language arts: limited-English proficient subgroup

Independence High

math: whole school and Caucasian, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged and limited-English proficient subgroups

Provo High

language arts: Hispanic and limited-English proficient subgroups

Charter schools

American Leadership Academy

language arts: whole school and Caucasian subgroup

For more detailed scores, visit http://u-pass.schools.utah.gov/u-passweb/

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.