Despite budget cuts and other economic challenges during the last school year, most area schools continued making gains under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The scores from the most recent Idaho Standards Achievement Tests, released Monday by the Idaho Department of Education, show that for the 2009-10 school year, more Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls public schools met the student achievement goals required to show they made adequate progress than they did the previous year.

"We did very well. We continue to show growth in almost every area," said Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Hazel Bauman.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that states calculate and report the adequate yearly progress, or AYP, of each public school based on standardized tests, like the ISAT, that measure performance in reading, math and language usage. Participation is also measured.

In Idaho, 62 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress during the last school year. That's down from 66 percent the previous year.

Public schools chief Tom Luna told the Associated Press that fewer schools made the grade this year because the bar was raised.

In 2009, a school needed 78 percent of its students to show grade-level proficiency in reading to make AYP. This year, that benchmark went up to 85.6 percent.

In math, 83 percent of students in a school had to reach grade-level proficiency this year, compared to 70 percent last year.

In Coeur d'Alene, 13 of the district's 16 schools made adequate progress, up from last year by one.

Project CDA, the district's alternative school, achieved AYP status for the first time in several years.

"We also made huge gains with our American Indian population," Bauman said.

This year, 76 percent of the several hundred American Indian students attending schools in the Coeur d'Alene district reached grade-level proficiency in math, compared to last year's 59 percent. Scores went up by 3 percent in reading proficiency.

"I'm very pleased with these gains," Bauman said.

To make AYP under NCLB, a school or district must meet 41 different targets that measure reading, math and language usage proficiencies. The targets include calculations for all students as well as subgroups including African American, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, White, Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, students with disabilities, limited English proficient and economically disadvantaged.

"In almost every category we've improved," Bauman said. "While we haven't hit the target 100 percent, we're definitely heading in the right direction."

Overall, 95 percent of students in the Coeur d'Alene School District are meeting the reading goal, and 92 percent are meeting the math goal.

"That's a tribute to our community support and to our teachers," Bauman said. "It's amazing with all the budget cuts and trials and tribulations, we still churn out improved results from one year to the next."

None of the three local districts made AYP as a district.

In Post Falls, just one of that district's eight schools failed to make AYP this year, compared to 2009 when three schools fell below the benchmarks.

Overall, 94 percent of Post Falls students are reading at grade-level proficiency and 89.1 percent are proficient in math.

In the Lakeland School District, all of its 11 schools made AYP last year. This year, one elementary school failed.

"Spirit Lake Elementary did not meet AYP in regard to participation of students with disabilities in math," said Brad Murray, Lakeland's assistant superintendent.

Murray said the district self-reported a violation of the ISAT test security and invalidated three student tests which dropped the participation rate to just under the benchmark.

Overall, 96.4 percent of Lakeland students are reading at grade-level proficiency, and 95.3 percent showed proficiency in math.

"We are once again, extremely proud of the efforts that our students and staff put forward throughout last school year to ensure success on the ISATs," Murray said.