Four Lewiston schools performed poorly. So did three Auburn schools.

So did schools in Poland, Turner, Greene and Oxford.

And they aren’t alone.

In a list released Monday, the Maine Department of Education ruled that 132 of the state’s 711 schools, or nearly 20 percent, haven’t made the “annual yearly progress” required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. All will need to improve or face consequences.

“It’s about what we expected,” said Deputy Education Commissioner Patrick Phillips.

Under the controversial 2-year-old federal law, schools could fail in dozens of ways. They made the state list if their students – including small groups, such as those enrolled in special education – did not perform well enough on the reading or math section of the state’s standardized test, given in grades four, eight and 11. They also made the list if fewer than 95 percent of their pupils took the test. Elementary schools were listed if they had poor average daily attendance. High schools were listed if they had a poor graduation rate.

Last year, many schools made the list because too few youngsters took the test. This year, only one school had that problem.

Most of the time, the schools on this year’s list were cited because their poor or disabled students didn’t score well in reading or math.

“Those are really the challenge for Maine,” Phillips said.

Eighty-two schools, including 14 from central and western Maine, didn’t make adequate progress for one year. They were named to a monitor list.

Fifty schools, including 13 from this area, failed to make adequate progress for the last two years. They were put on a “continuous improvement priority” list.

Some school officials said they were disappointed at the news, but not greatly surprised.

“Sometimes the populations are so small, we’re talking about a half-dozen kids who can make the difference,” said Auburn Assessment Director Steve Clark.

Auburn’s middle and high schools made the “continuous improvement priority” list because special education students and poor students didn’t perform well enough in reading and math the last two years. Webster Intermediate School was on the monitor list because special education students didn’t score high enough in reading.

Clark was surprised by one thing. He thought Auburn, one of the largest school systems in the state, was going to have more schools on the list.

“In some areas, I’m pleased. In some areas, I’m disappointed,” he said.

In SAD 17, which serves the Oxford area, Superintendent Mark Eastman said he felt the same way.

None of his 10 elementary schools or his high school was named Monday. But Oxford Middle School was.

It needs to improve reading scores across the board, and math results for youngsters from poor families and those in special education.

Clark said the school is working hard to ensure that those students make the grade next year. But he believes it’s unfair to test special education students alongside their classmates, and then sanction the school when the special education children don’t do as well.

“They’re all making progress,” he said. “But it’s not enough to make annual yearly progress.'”

It’s a complaint Phillips has heard many times. He believes the local assessment system, which allows each school system to come up with its own way to measure student achievement, will help address that issue. Those assessments are often tailored to individual students.

But not every school has created its assessments. Phillips said it will be at least a year or two before the assessments can be used to gauge which schools need improvement. Until then, federal law requires Maine to use a standardized test.

Schools that made the monitor list now must develop a plan and find a way to improve. Schools listed because they’ve had problems for two years or more face greater consequences.

Because it has more than one elementary school in its district, Portland must let some students transfer from its struggling Reiche Community School to another, more successful public school in the city. The state is encouraging school systems that don’t have that choice to offer tutoring instead.

The state plans to work with problem schools on teacher training, curriculum development and other issues. But with 50 schools on the list and just two state employees to do the work, Phillips said, schools that receive Title 1 money, or federal funds for poor students, will get help first.

“It’s just going to be a matter of triage and prioritizing,” he said.

Last year, 108 schools were named to the monitor list. Ten were on the “continuous improvement priority” list.