With just more than a week to go before an embargo is lifted on the highly-scrutinized test score results, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released some general figures today in an effort to get out in front of what's bound to be a steady stream of reports about lagging student achievement.

As anticipated, Illinois students this year had a tough time meeting the rising expectations established under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). More than a third of the state's schools failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on standardized tests issued last spring -- up 11 points from the prior year.

With the measure of success rising by 7.5 percentage points each year -- putting expectations well ahead of last year's student averages -- many educators wonder if 100 percent of their students can possibly make the grade by 2014.

The Center For Tax and Budget Accountability reform says that until resources are redistributed to bring equity, many of the state's schools will continue to struggle. The report Money Matters offers an explanation:

To date, much of the conversation has focused on funding and quality differentials between the wealthiest school districts and the most impoverished. Certainly, the contrasts there are striking. The untold story, however, is even more compelling. It focuses not just on the very top versus the very bottom, but rather the differentials between the wealthiest school districts in Illinois—versus the vast majority of districts that provide public education to over three-quarters of the children in our state.

The data here are stark and telling, revealing meaningful differences in school funding, teacher quality and academic performance that are truly statewide ... Racial inequities also emerge as a significant problem in Illinois, with African American and Hispanic children far more likely to attend schools in high poverty areas, with fewer resources, less qualified teachers and lower academic outcomes than their white peers.

As in years past, a majority of the 339 school districts that failed to make AYP this year are in low-income communities. From the inception of NCLB, educators, particularly in high-poverty schools, balked at the notion that 100 percent of all students in the state's 871 districts would eventually make the grade.

But this year, even those schools in middle-class communities -- particularly at the high school level -- expressed concern about measuring up. That's because this year's goal that 62.5 percent of high schoolers meet or exceed state standards on the Prairie State Achievement Test (PSAE) exceeded last year's statewide average by 10 percentage points.

They hung banners, amped up tutoring, and brought in day-of-test gimmicks like DJs and fast food.  But in the end, students failed to make AYP.  Among high schoolers, this year's lackluster results mark the second consecutive performance dip.

The news isn't all bad, according to State Board Supt. Christopher Koch.  An additional 34 districts tested off the state's list of troubled schools by making AYP for a second consecutive year. An additional 101 made AYP for the first time. In all, 529 districts are in compliance with the NCLB standards.

"Schools and districts are making significant improvement, and this accomplishment is even more noteworthy given the various performance targets that continue to increase each year," Koch said in a release. "The staffs and students at these schools and districts should be very proud of their success to improve student achievement in their schools.”

Other highlights per ISBE:

- 2008 was the first time in 18 years that student enrollment in Illinois public schools decreased, from 2,077,856 in 2007 to 2,074,167 .

- Since 1999 the percentage of low-income students has increased from 36.1% to 41.1% in 2008.

- Minority enrollment increased to 46% in 2008 compared to 38% in 1999. The increase is accounted for mainly by Hispanic students who have increased from 13.9% in 1999 to 19.9% in 2008.

After six years, the fate of NCLB remains up in the air as educators and lawmakers anxiously look to new White House leadership to set a new school reform agenda. Many hope that they'll be able to hang on to the spirit of NCLB, which has driven higher standards across the state. What they don't want, though, is another test that they're bound to fail.