MUSCATINE, Iowa — When it comes to meeting the standards set by the Federal No Child Left Behind legislation, the Muscatine Community School District has some challenges.

Among it’s approximately 5,500 students, the District has a fair amount of students who deal with learning disabilities, speak English as a second language or cope with poverty as they strive to learn.

During a Monday night meeting, the Muscatine School Board learned that students at four District schools struggled with those circumstances last year and did not progress enough to satisfy the federal requirements for No Child Left Behind.

The federal legislation calls for all students, regardless of their circumstances, to be proficient in math and reading by the year 2013.

A student who scores in the 41st percentile or above is considered proficient.

District assistant superintendent Rebecca Furlong said Muscatine High School, West and Central middle schools and Jefferson Elementary School did not meet the legislation’s  adequate yearly progress standards.

Schools are referred to the listings after their adequate yearly progress reports are filed with the Iowa Department of Education.

The report also contains information regarding student attendance, achievement, testing participation and graduation rate.

At each school, subgroup scores from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development put the schools on the lists.

The high school and middle schools have been identified as schools in need of assistance in the areas of math and reading among several sub groups.

Subgroups of students who receive special education services, speak English as a second language or come from families with low socio-economic status, are monitored for progress when there are at least 30 students falling into a subgroup category.

Some small schools aren’t held to the same standard as larger schools  because a smaller student population doesn’t usually have large enough subgroups.

Districts and schools identified as in need of assistance must meet state annual yearly progress requirements for two consecutive years before they can can shed the “in need of assistance” designation.

Jefferson has been placed on the No Child Left Behind watch list for reading among its low socio-economic subgroup, which means it could become a school in need of assistance if standardized test scores don’t improve.

Schools designated as “in need of assistance” also risk losing government funding if student scores don’t rise.

Superintendent Bill Decker said the Muscatine Community School District is at a statistical disadvantage to attain the 100 percent proficiency standard.

“You’ll see more and more schools going on this list,” said Decker. “This should not be a cause for alarm for this Board, our staff or the rest of the community.”

Decker said the data the District gleans from monitoring scores and students in accordance with No Child Left Behind is a valuable tool.

“We will keep using data and looking at each individual student,” said Decker.