SAD 44 Superintendent David Murphy expects a two-person team from the state Department of Education to visit his district this fall to provide ideas on how to improve student test scores.

“They will work with us to identify components needing work,” he said.

Several schools in the district did not make the minimum standards in reading or mathematics for certain subgroups, as dictated by criteria mandated by the No Child Left Behind federal program.

Crescent Park Elementary School is on monitor status in reading for one subgroup, Telstar High School is on monitor status for reading and math for one subgroup, and Telstar Middle School is on the Continuous Improvement Priority School list in mathematics.

“There are 84 ways not to make adequate yearly progress,” Murphy said.

Many schools in Maine came up short in one of those ways, a fact that has caused some superintendents to question the federal education requirements. Mountain Valley High School has been on the Continuous Improvement Priority School list for several years, a fact that frustrates SAD 43 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin.

“I place zero credibility in this. Our students continue to perform better and better every year. It all depends on the subgroups,” he said. “It’s hard to hold our district accountable for a student we’ve had for only three months.”

He declined to name which subgroups of the school population did not make No Child Left Behind standards.

A subgroup is typically an ethnic or racial group, a group identified as economically disadvantaged, or having disabilities or with limited English proficiency.

“We’ve been working with the Department of Education for a number of years. They’ve done what they can do. We plan to look more at specific areas and students,” he said.

One step taken recently was adding a reading specialist at the high school two years ago.

“We’re doing everything we can around math and reading,” he said.

Also, lack of consistency in administration may be a factor at the high school. The class of 2009 will be the first class to have attended all four years under one principal since the high school was formed 20 years ago, he said.

The DOE team visit to SAD 44 may offer another benefit to the district.

“We may get some funding and more resources,” Murphy said, adding that when Telstar Middle School did not make adequate yearly progress in reading several years ago, the district received several thousand dollars.

“You want to stay vigilant, and you want to do well for all kids,” he said.

Any school that does not make the required progress must meet federal standards for two consecutive years before being taken off the list.

All three schools in SAD 21 made the necessary yearly progress.

“We’re very pleased with this,” Tom Ward said.

Expectations to meet adequate yearly progress increase each year, Murphy said.

Fourth- and eighth-grade students take the Maine Educational Assessment tests, and 11th-graders take the Scholastic Aptitude Tests to determine whether they are meeting No Child Left Behind standards.