In Hawai'i's first assessment of all public schools under No Child Left Behind, 64 percent, or 180 of 280 public schools, failed to meet the academic standards set by the state and approved by federal education officials. Many discovered last week they will become the subjects of what the state calls a "triage" effort to improve education.

But results from elsewhere reveal that other states also are struggling with the new law.

In Virginia, 40 percent of schools missed Adequate Yearly Progress; half of Missouri schools missed the mark. The figure was 45 percent in California, 57 percent in Delaware, 58 percent in Alaska and 87 percent in Florida — so far the nation's highest failure rate.

Because states set their own goals for standardized test scores and take a myriad of tests, the results can look very different across the country. In Minnesota, just 8 percent of schools missed AYP.

Michigan, which last year saw more than 1,500 schools fail, has now made it easier for schools to meet standards. This year only 216 Michigan schools missed AYP.

Although they could do so if they chose, so far Hawai'i educators have said they refuse to lower the bar to make it easier for schools and students to reach proficiency.

"We seriously thought about it, but no," said Elaine Takenaka, director of administrative services for the DOE Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Student Support. "We are not doing that."

Instead, Hawai'i officials have developed what they are calling a "triage" plan that they will roll out at a Board of Education committee meeting Thursday afternoon. They say they will focus on getting resources to the schools that are in the most dire situation under the law: those that have missed AYP for at least five years and now must restructure.

At 46 high-poverty schools that are considered to be chronic in missing AYP, the state may make major changes that could include replacement of all or most of the staff, conversion to a charter school or assigning school operations to a state or private organization.

For schools that are to become part of that triage effort, the prospect can be intimidating.

"I just hope they don't take all of the staff," said Linda Victor, principal at Ma'ili Elementary. "It just doesn't make sense to throw the baby out with the bath water."

Victor's school qualifies for the state's triage plan. It missed AYP in several categories, but also has an 85 percent poverty rate among its students and a high transiency rate. Half of its kindergarten class transfers to a different school by the third grade.

Like most of the schools that made the triage list, it is in an area of intense poverty and has undertaken a school reform model on its own. Schools that have large immigrant populations, which means many students are still learning English, also have had trouble meeting No Child Left Behind requirements.

Takenaka said the state restructuring will try to help schools — not penalize them. Intervention teams, auditors, evaluators and a state monitor will help schools come up with plans for improving performance, while academic coaches and leadership coaches will be on hand to help teachers, principals and students, she said. Each school will be treated individually.

The Department of Education has set aside millions of dollars to attack the problem beginning in the next few weeks. Friday the DOE hand-delivered requests-for-proposals to audit firms that might be able to help determine what is and isn't working on a particular campus.

No Child Left Behind, the key measure of President Bush's education plan, requires ever-improving test scores until all students are considered proficient by 2014.

Under the law, there are 37 different benchmarks schools must hit to meet AYP; if they miss one, the school fails. That means at a school such as Ala Wai Elementary, where two of the benchmarks were missed (for reading scores for high-poverty students by 7 percentage points and an attendance goal by 3 percentage points for those students), the entire campus missed AYP.

Meanwhile, there are a total of 88 Hawai'i schools from which students can ask to transfer from next year because of low performance. Another 115 schools are in good standing now, but missed their AYP goals and are in danger of being labeled as "needing improvement" next year if they miss AYP again. If a school misses AYP more than twice it is subject to increasing sanctions, such as having to provide tutoring or paying for students to be transported to better-performing schools.

"With 115 schools pending, we want to make sure they don't slip into the 'needing improvement' category," said Greg Knudsen, Department of Education spokesman.

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.