The Nye County School District met federal annual yearly progress standards set as part of the No Child Left Behind act for the 2008-09 school year.

The district's adequate status was met in part due to the successful appeal of a previous ruling of Pahrump Valley High School as "needs improvement."

Ginger Olsen, the district's testing and accountability coordinator, explained the high school's original designation was the result of four students not being there for testing. Consequently, the school did not meet the required 95 percent participation rate in one of the testing subcategories.

Under NCLB, there are 37 categories and subgroups in which schools are tested. Not meeting the threshold in just one group means the entire school gets listed as not having met AYP standards.

Olsen tracked down the students and explained to the state why they were not in attendance, and as a result the high school had a hold placed on its "needs improvement" status, thus bumping the entire district into the adequate bracket.

Of Nye County's 25 schools, 13 were ranked "adequate."

Two elementary schools, Mt. Charleston and Silver Rim, were deemed "high achieving."

Six schools were placed on the "watch list," meaning they failed to meet AYP standards for the first time, and only three schools were deemed as "needs improvement."

However, the designations can be a bit misleading and don't always tell the whole story of a school's progress.

The rankings are based on student scores on standardized tests administered annually.

The "percentage above cut" or PAC, the percentage of students needed to pass the tests, is also raised annually. "Almost all the schools showed improvement but didn't make PAC," Olsen explained.

The PAC scores, determined by each state individually -- Nevada has the fourth highest standards in the nation -- will continue to rise until 2013, at which point all students are expected to meet AYP.

The 2008-09 PAC thresholds were 55 percent of students proficient in Math and 52 percent in English.

Statewide, the effect of sweeping budget cuts for education is also beginning to be reflected in AYP scores.

Of the state's 654 schools, 249 were designated as "needs improvement."

The number of schools placed on the "watch list" has increased by 67 to a total of 118 schools.

In order to get off of the list, a school is required to make AYP standards for two consecutive years.

The six schools statewide which have obtained "exemplary" status are 23 fewer than there were last year.

In addition, there has also been a significant decrease in schools ranked "high achieving."

Ninety-six schools earned that designation last year, but this year there were only 57.

Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public instruction, reportedly attributed the decline in state schools to budget deficits and rising standards.