LEWISTOWN - Most area school districts showed progress in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSAs, for the 2008-2009 school year, according to results released to the public Thursday.

Both Mifflin and Juniata county school districts met at least 96 percent of their target goals for the school year: Subgroups of students who did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress accounted for the missed targets in both school districts.

"We had 177 targets, and 171 were made," Mifflin County Superintendent David Runk said. "I think that's pretty good." The 2008-2009 school year marks the first time the school district made AYP without a corrective or improvement from corrective status.

Juniata County also made high marks, meeting 131 of 132 targets, Superintendent Kenneth Albaugh said. Tuscarora Junior High School was the only school that did not meet AYP in Juniata County.

"Only one subgroup did not meet the standard," which caused the school to miss AYP for the second year in a row, Albaugh said. "Do I think that's fair? No, I do not."

Because of its status, the junior high and the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit are writing a school improvement plan that will be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, he said.

In Mifflin County, both Lewistown Area and Indian Valley high schools did not meet AYP for 2008-2009.

Within the high schools, the economically disadvantaged students are struggling the most with the PSSAs, Runk said.

"That's a national trend, but we're working on it," Runk said, adding that the schools plan to hold tutoring programs and encourage struggling students to take more classes in math and reading rather than electives.

Lewistown Middle School, which previously did not make AYP for two years in a row, showed improvement in 2008-2009, according to PSSA results. All of the elementary schools, several of which failed to meet AYP in the past, made their goals this year.

Runk attributes the schools' improvement to new elementary school programs that the school district initiated when scores were down.

"The programs we put in place (in the elementary schools) are starting to work their way through," Runk said. Of the high schools, he said maybe the new programs "need more time."

In Juniata County, the school's main focus for improvement has been the articulated curriculum, which aligns the school district to the state's academic standards, Albaugh said.

"We are working very diligently to make AYP next year," Albaugh said of the teachers, administration and students. "We are teaching to the test. It's not optimal, but ... that's what judges us and what determines our funding."

Teaching to the test - especially the PSSA - can be challenging.

While the Mifflin County School District continues to achieve better results on the PSSAs, Runk said some of the test questions are just too hard for some students.

"Some students are limited in the ability God gave them. We should test to the level of the students," Runk said, adding that many superintendents share his views on the issue.

Although the science PSSA results were not part of determining AYP, many students across Pennsylvania struggled with the test subject, Runk said. He compared some of the high school questions to those he would have had on a college test.

"They have to keep in mind who is taking these tests," Runk said.

Runk thanked the district teachers for putting in the extra hours to learn the new programs and teach the students to be successful. The students are gaining confidence in themselves and learning to take the PSSAs seriously, Runk said.

Of all the area school districts, Mount Union Area School District was the only one that did not meet AYP. Mount Union Kistler Elementary School and Mount Union Area High School both failed to meet its targets for the second year in a row.

A call to Mount Union Superintendent James Estep was not immediately returned Thursday.

In Midd-West School District, Midd-West High School and Middleburg Elementary School both received warning status for failing to meet AYP targets; however, the school district as a whole did achieve AYP for 2008-2009.

Greenwood School District also met AYP, though Greenwood High School is in warning status for missing the targets.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine annually whether schools and districts make AYP. The 2008-09 targets were 56-percent proficient or advanced in math and 63-percent proficient or advanced in reading.

Attendance and graduation rates are factors of AYP. Results from subgroups by gender, race and economic status also are calculated if there are more than 40 students in the school.

Almost 80 percent of all Pennsylvania schools met the required goals for the 2008-2009 school year, according to the state Department of Education.

According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must be 100-percent proficient in reading and math by 2014.