More students are proficient, but few schools reach their map test goals.

The Missouri Achievement Program or MAP tests are part of the Bush Administration's "No Child Left Behind" legislation.

The law pushes school districts to have each and every student performing at a "proficient" or "advanced" level in both mathematics and communication arts by the year 2014.

The federal government increases Missouri's progress goals every year in advance of the 2014 deadline for total proficiency.

For 2009, Missouri goals were for just over 54 percent of students proficient in math and just over 59 percent proficient in communication arts.

Missouri's high school students did not take the traditional "MAP" tests last school year.

Instead they switched to "End of Course" exams.

State education officials said the change yielded improvements to high school test scores.

So how did other Missouri school do? 

Of Missouri's 554 school districts, only 26 percent met the 2009 goals, that's about 150 school. State education officials say they are still pleased because the total number of proficient students increased.

Also, Missouri students made slight improvements in their test scores in all test subjects except for sixth grade math.

Of the 32 mid-Missouri school districts, only six districts met their target. Those schools include:
Maries County R-1 in Vienna
Osage County R-1 in Chamois
Osage County R-3 in Westphalia
School of the Osage
South Callaway County R-2 in Mokane
St. Elizabeth School District

All other school districts in the heart of Missouri missed the 2009 goal, but some did not miss it by much.  School progress is judged on student subgroups, which include race, ethnicity, socioeconomic level and a student's learning ability. In Eldon for example, only one district sub-group, the special education population, failed to meet the 2009 goal.

The 2010 goals for Missouri school districts increase by about eight percentage points.