At the same time, just a third of the state's schools met the adequate yearly progress standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, with 66 percent failing to make sufficient progress for the second year in a row.

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said it is difficult to judge the good things happening in the public schools simply by looking at this one number.

"We're interested in the growth of each individual school," Hamamoto told Board of Education members today. "They may not have made Adequate Yearly Progress, but let's take a look at what's going on in the individual school. What we've been looking at is ensuring there is steady growth.