More Wyoming schools showed improvement in academics and reaching certain student groups during the 2003-2004 year than in the previous school year, according to new school accountability data released Tuesday.

With a 92 percent rate of the schools and school districts achieving "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, Wyoming is doing better than other states that release their results, such as South Dakota at 79 percent or Indiana at 76 percent, said Wyoming Department of Education spokeswoman Deborah Hinckley.

"We feel like we're really ahead of the pack," Hinckley said.

But neither the department nor educators will be happy until all schools fulfill the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act by 2014, she said.

This year, 29 schools did not make the AYP list, according to a news release from Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship. Of that number, 15 did not meet AYP for the first time, and 14 did not make AYP for the second consecutive year, Blankenship said.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools that did not meet the adequate yearly progress requirements for the second year are classified as being "in need of improvement" and are subject to sanctions, such as setting aside certain funds for professional development and making a plan for improvement.

The 29-school figure marks a 46 percent decrease from 54 schools on the AYP list in the 2002-2003 school year, Blankenship said.

Thirty-eight schools on the 2002-2003 list improved to the point that they were removed from the new list, he added.

The new results mark the second year for the AYP measure, which is based primarily on the test called the Wyoming Comprehensive Assessment System, or WyCAS, that is administered to students in the fourth, eighth and 11th grades, Hinckley said.

WyCAS tests students in language arts - reading and writing - and mathematics, she said.

Besides these academic measures, the state evaluates schools on the basis of achievement by eight subgroups: White, Hispanic, American Indian, Black, Asian, students from impoverished backgrounds, Individual Education Plan, and Limited English Proficient students.

Elementary and middle schools are evaluated about how their students improve from the lowest, or "novice," category in language arts and math proficiency, Hinckley said.

In high schools, 80 percent of students must be on track to graduate, or they must show progress from say, 68 percent to 69 percent, she said.

Some schools may meet overall achievement targets but not achieve adequate yearly progress because a targets for one or more subgroups was not met, Blankenship said.

For example, Hinckley said that 12 schools in the new list did not achieve adequate yearly progress because they fell short in just one subcategory.

The evaluation includes a complicated "safe harbor" provision to determine if schools are making progress in a specific area but did not reach a certain goal, Hinckley said.

Schools that did not meet the goal are identified as "high priority," she said.

They will be the focus of more state and local resources such as professional development, reading programs, access to grants, help teachers align curriculum to meet testing requirements, and improve classroom climate through meal programs, Hinckley said.

Reporter Tom Morton can be contacted at (307) 266-0592 or at George.Morton@casperstartribune.net