SALEM, Ore. — Hawai'i is among 15 states vying to be chosen as one of the few that will be allowed some leeway in how student progress is measured under the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal education law criticized by some as overly rigid.

Applications are due tomorrow, three months after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that states would be allowed to seek some flexibility.

A maximum of 10 states will be chosen.

Robert McClelland, director of the Hawai'i Department of Education's Planning and Evaluation Office, said Hawai'i will not be notified until June whether it has been selected. But he said the state already tracks the progress of individual students, and gives that information to each school.

Under the law, schools are expected to show year-to-year improvement in test scores — for example, this year's third-grade scores are compared to last year's. Under the pilot program, however, schools will be allowed to chart how individual students are doing on standardized tests from one year to the next.

The idea is the latest move by the Bush administration to allow more breathing room in the No Child Left Behind law.

The 2001 law is set for a tough reauthorization battle in Congress next year, and the results of the experimental program could affect the debate.