The number of western Wake schools that met federal No Child Left Behind standards declined in 2009-10, according to preliminary results released last week by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

The drop is in line with the rest of the county and the Triangle.

In Wake, the state's largest school system, just 61 of 159 schools, or 38 percent, made adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, which is assessed using end-of-grade and end-of-course testing scores to measure whether different student groups are improving academically. That's down from 63 percent last year, but still up from 24 percent two years ago. There are 54 schools that missed only one or two targets, and 16 elementary schools will be under Title I sanctions.

Here's how western Wake did:

About 61 percent of western Wake's 31 elementary schools made adequate progress, down from about 71 percent last year.

Only 40 percent of the area's 10 middle schools met the standards, down from 90 percent last year.

None of western Wake's seven high schools met the federal standards this year or last year.

The numbers can't be directly compared with the previous year's scores because of increased retesting for end-of-year and end-of-grade tests and other factors used to compute each school's adequate yearly progress result.

Most county high schools - including all seven in western Wake - failed to meet the academic benchmark this year because the U.S. Department of Education invalidated English and math test results for some students with disabilities.

And the state implemented retests for high school Algebra I, English I and biology.

Last year, area scores soared compared with the previous year because retests for elementary school math and reading were implemented on end-of-grade testing.

Under federal No Child Left Behind mandates, a school's progress is determined by reading and math scores, graduation rates and attendance. To achieve adequate yearly progress, a school must meet its individual target goals, which vary based on the student population. Schools must evaluate students in groups according to race, family income, English proficiency and other factors. There must be at least 40 students in each subgroup. If any group falls short on the state reading and math tests, the school does not pass.

Schools must also meet targets as a whole and must test at least 95 percent of their students in each subgroup.

School officials say the No Child Left Behind requirements are draconian and can skew results because one student or subgroup of students can keep otherwise high-performing schools from reaching adequate yearly progress, and the number of targets at each school can change significantly from year to year.

"It's an all-or-nothing proposition that is disheartening to the schools and the faculty," Wake County school spokesman Michael Evans said. "We have schools deemed 94 percent proficient, with high growth, but they didn't meet their goal. It muddies the whole debate."

Fourteen county Title I schools have to offer families the option to transfer for failing to meet adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years. Some of those schools hit their targets this year, but they have to do it for two consecutive years to get off the improvements list.

Schools with many low-income students get Title I money to bolster academics.

Title I schools enter into sanctions by failing to reach adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years in the same subject. Schools are subject to different levels of sanctions depending on how many consecutive years they fail to reach that benchmark.

There are no Title I schools in western Wake facing sanctions next year. Briarcliff Elementary in Cary made adequate gains in math for the second year in a row and now exits school improvement status.