Students in area school districts did well overall in state standardized reading and math tests.
However, in eight districts, some groups of students failed to meet the state's performance goals.
On Wednesday, the state Department of Education released the results of standardized tests students took last spring.
About one in four public schools in the state missed goals and are now labeled as "Not Making Adequate Yearly Progress."
In west central Minnesota, 11 school sites in eight districts missed goals.
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This year's list of 483 schools that did not meet state goals is nearly twice as long as the one issued a year ago.
State education officials offered two explanations: Standardized tests are now required in more grades -- third through eighth and once in high school -- and the new tests are harder than earlier versions.
"Our expectations of students are higher," said Department of Education Commissioner Alice Seagren. "We're sending a message to the parents and the kids that this is really serious. We're competing globally so we need to have higher expectations for our students."
More than 400,000 students took the tests, which are intended to measure how well they grasp state academic standards developed and integrated into the classroom over the past few years.
In math, 78 percent of last year's third-graders met or exceeded benchmarks, but the rate steadily dropped off until bottoming out at 30 percent for high school juniors. Seagren said the 11th-graders might not have taken the tests as seriously, judging by the large number of blank answers to questions.
Third-graders also notched the highest reading proficiency at nearly 82 percent and the decline in later grades wasn't as pronounced. Eighth-graders met expectations at the lowest rate, about 65 percent. In both subjects, the scores illustrated continuing achievement gaps between white and minority students. The gap showed up in some area test results; however, area minority students also met goals in many areas.
Average math scores for Hispanic and black students, as well as those with limited English skills, fell short of goal in Willmar. The average score for Hispanic students in Montevideo also fell short of the goal in math. Those groups surpassed state goals in reading.
In other area districts that didn't meet state goals, the problem areas were in the average scores for special education and low-income students.
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The new math test included some things that weren't expected, said Danith Clausen, director of curriculum and instruction for Willmar's schools.
On the math test, students were sometimes required to write out an explanation of how they solved a problem. "We're going to need to give them more experience with that," she said.
The state tests are of limited value because they don't lend themselves to an analysis of student progress, Clausen said.
"It's more of an evaluation of the school system than it is of the kids," she said. The district uses other tests that are designed to follow student growth from the fall through the spring.
Eighty-one schools on notice for poor results last year turned things around.
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Schools moved off the list. The reason is quite simple, said Superintendent Pam Kyl-lingstad. The only area that put the district on the list was special education last year. "The kids tested last year had more severe disabilities than kids tested this year," she said. That resulted in a higher average score and took the district off the list.
Kyllingstad said the test results and the way the state presents them can paint an unfair picture of the accomplishments of handicapped, minority or immigrant students.
"I really think we should be turning these things around and celebrating the positives," she said.
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The No Child Left Behind system is frustrating for teachers and school officials, Kyllingstad said. It raises performance demands every year and will eventually require every student to perform at grade level.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
