Of the 53 high schools that did not meet the state's benchmarks, 30 actually met the reading and math proficiency standards when all students' scores were averaged together. However, they failed because either attendance on test days did not meet the required 95 percent or because certain subpopulations — including disabled, limited-English, disadvantaged and ethnic groups — did not demonstrate enough improvement. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, every group must meet the state standards in up to 37 criteria.

"Right now under NCLB, basically it's all or nothing," said Robert McClelland, director of the DOE's planning and evaluation office. "You fail whether you miss one target out of the 37 or 36 out of the 37. The consequences are the same."

Students took the tests last spring, and the adequate yearly progress results were released this month.

The high school results illustrate a long-standing criticism by education officials across the nation about the challenge that schools with large disabled or limited-English populations will have in meeting the standards.

Unless the federal rules are changed, it will be difficult for any of the high schools to lift themselves from failing status, said McClelland.

The requirement that each subpopulation of more than 30 students meet the standards as a group is a major challenge, he said. "The targets for special education, or for limited English proficiency, are the same for all students across the system."

However, not everyone agrees that's a problem, particularly in a state that has been under federal oversight for a decade for failure to provide adequate services to some of its most disadvantaged students, those in special education.

Universal standards

Shelby Floyd, an attorney for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that led to the 1994 Felix consent decree, said there is no reason the standards should not be the same for all students. NCLB is based on research that shows 75 percent of students can learn to read fluently without extra instruction, 20 percent can learn to read fluently with specialized instruction and early intervention, and only 5 percent cannot be expected to learn to read, she said.

The vast number of children in special education have learning disabilities or emotional disabilities, often related to their learning challenges.

"These are the group of kids being blamed for not meeting (the standards), but in fact the research shows they can if they are taught correctly," she said.

Floyd said it would be discrimination not to offer specialized resources to children with disabilities, and changing the law would limit their opportunities to learn.

Still, many parents feel that schools should not be sanctioned if only one group of students does not meet the standards.

"That shouldn't count," said Kailua High School parent Colette Tanaka. "I've taught before and I know how hard it is to work with disabled students."

Not meeting the state standards is insignificant compared to the dedication of the teachers, the strong academic program and the sense of 'ohana her children experience at Kailua, she said. "I have two kids there and they're both happy," she said.

None of the seven passing high schools had significant disabled, disadvantaged or limited-English subpopulations. Those schools were Kaiser, Radford and the Education Laboratory on O'ahu; and Kohala, Hawai'i Academy of Arts and Science, Volcano School of Arts and Science, and West Hawai'i Explorations on the Big Island.

In general, high schools face the biggest challenges in meeting the NCLB requirements because their larger and more diverse student bodies make them more likely to have numerous subgroups, and therefore the more individual groups that need to meet each of the requirements.

Schools can have up to 37 criteria they need to meet, depending on how many subpopulations they have. Failure to meet all 37 criteria will lead to sanctions under the law, ranging from having to provide tutoring to restructuring or possible takeover by the state.

This leaves well-regarded schools such as Kalani and Moanalua on the failure list strictly because their special-education students could not meet the math and reading standards. The "failure" label shocked one Kalani mother, who had been impressed by Kalani's academics. She was somewhat relieved that the school failed in only one subcategory, but said the school should concentrate on improving education for disabled students.

That's the direction Kalani is taking as it tries to help all students meet the state's vision of a high school graduate, said principal Randiann Porras-Tang.

Who should take test?

However, while Kalani is trying to help each student meet the academic standards, Porras-Tang said the federal government needs to find a better way of determining which students should take the test and which should be offered alternative assessments.

Currently, schools can only exempt up to 1 percent of their most severely disabled students.

Paul Ban, director of the DOE's Special Education Services Branch, pointed out that students are designated disabled because they have some problem with learning. "As a general rule of thumb a student with disabilities would probably be less likely to perform at the same level as a student without disabilities on a large-scale assessment," he said.

While the state does want to uphold the same high standards for disabled students, a standardized test may not be the best way to demonstrate what these students have learned, Ban said.

If subgroups do not meet the standards, NCLB does not credit them with any improvement over the previous year.

Lisa DeLong, principal at Kahuku High School, looks at her school's test scores in a positive light, because although Kahuku's special-education students did not meet the standards, they improved over last year, as did the rest of the students. "We're excited. We made gains in every area, including that special-education benchmark, and we really feel that our students can continue to make gains," she said.

DeLong said the school's staff recognizes that they may never be able to meet all the criteria for adequate yearly progress, but does not let that get in the way of putting their best effort into trying. "We didn't look at it as 'We don't think we can make it, so let's not try,' " she said.

Now the school is looking at ways to help its special-education students move forward, such as teaching them strategies to work around skills they have trouble with. For example, she said, if a student can't memorize multiplication tables, teachers can still teach him algebra, which requires a different set of skills.

Along with many other parents, McKinley mom T.J. Cuaresma is concerned how few high schools met all the state standards, but asked, "Is that the only thing you're going to use as a measuring stick?"

While she believes test scores are important, she thinks parents should consider a school's other criteria — such as the climate on campus, the types of classes, and how teachers and administrators interact with the students.