The possibility of such a state takeover had been looming for 54 schools after their students continually scored too low in math and reading. State education officials began notifying school principals on Tuesday whether scores had improved enough to avoid a takeover. Most principals did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto confirmed yesterday that 24 of those schools — more than 8 percent of all public schools in Hawai'i — will be "restructured," or taken over, and said she will release a complete list when the Board of Education meets this afternoon.

"Our mission is to see that students have the knowledge and skills to be successful adults," she said. "Restructuring is another option, another strategy, to refocus our resources and refocus ourselves to create a learning environment that will really help student achievement."

Several principals have said that their schools worked extremely hard to improve test scores, but that many important factors are simply beyond their control. They've pointed to continuing challenges such as low attendance rates, lack of parental involvement and supervision, and a constant influx of new students with limited English skills.

Theodore Fisher, principal of Ka'ala Elementary School in Wahiawa, said math scores for low-income students are a key area in which his school must make improvements.

He learned Tuesday that Ka'ala won't be restructured, however, and said he's committed to continuing improvements that have been made there.

"I'm very pleased with the news," he said. "I think that having the school and community work at improving the school is at this time a much better way to go."

Palolo Elementary principal Ruth Silberstein said she did not expect to learn her school's fate until today.

"All I know is that everyone has worked so hard," she said. "I must congratulate the staff because they have given their all. Whatever comes at this point comes, because we have done our best."

She said she was confident the call "will be a fair decision based on hard facts, and we'll just go with that."

The method and degree of restructuring will vary from school to school, said Kathy Kawaguchi, state assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and student support.

More responsibilities might be delegated to private agencies at some schools than at others, depending on the services needed, she said.

The state may contract with one of three education service providers to help at each restructured school. Edison Schools, ETS Pulliam, and the National Center on Education and the Economy are all Mainland-based firms that provide educational reform models and management strategies to individual schools.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are expected to make annual progress toward having every student proficient in core subjects by 2014.

The benchmarks ratchet higher each year, and the goal for schools is to reach the state proficiency targets — or make AYP, adequate yearly progress — on the Hawai'i State Assessment in reading and math, and meet other goals relating to test participation and promotion or graduation.

A school is subject to remedies if it fails to reach state proficiency targets for two consecutive years, and the remedies increase if AYP is missed in subsequent years. Once under these remedies, a school must achieve AYP for two consecutive years to be removed from status.

Hamamoto has said that the schools most likely to be taken over are those that have not implemented a standards-based curriculum with consistency, lack a common focus on what everyone should be doing, have not implemented mid-year assessments to make sure their students are on track or have weak leadership.