Western Wake schools soared on state tests this past school year, with every school in the area meeting or exceeding academic improvement standards.

Statewide gains were less significant in the western part of Wake County. Almost 98 percent of the area's schools met growth expectations in the 2008-2009 school year.

The state's school accountability program, called the ABCs of Public Education, is based on how many students pass end-of-grade and end-of-course tests and students' academic progress over time. Each school has an individual growth target set each year for scores.

Some education experts said the jump in scores is unsurprising.

This was the first year that high school students who failed end-of-course tests on their first try had their retest scores included in the state's calculations of passing rate. Retest results are not part of schools' growth calculations.

This is the second year retests counted for third- through eighth-graders' scores.

Lincoln Heights Elementary in Fuquay-Varina met growth expectations this year after missing the mark last year.

Ninety-two percent of county schools met growth expectations.

The highest performing of those schools are mostly in the west. Thirteen of the 14 schools in the district with passing rates above 90 percent were in western Wake.

Of those 13, eight western Wake schools were deemed "Honor Schools of Excellence," meaning the school met or exceeded expected growth and the school met federal No Child Left Behind standards.

Though the statewide scores were up, fewer area schools made federal standards for adequate yearly progress, or AYP. The percentage of schools in the area making AYP dropped from about 65 percent to about 48 percent this year.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind program, student subgroups, including American Indian, multi-racial, white, black, disabled, economically disadvantaged and other, must hit or pass state targets for reading and math scores.

If just one of the subgroups doesn't make it, the school doesn't make adequate yearly progress.