Garrette Edmonds, principal at East Allegheny High School, said his district is pushing hard to raise low Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores.

The PSSA scores determine a school's or a district's Adequate Yearly Progress. AYP is a snapshot of the district's effectiveness. It is based on the percentage of students taking the test, measurable academic skills and graduation rates.

Like the PSSA test, the AYP system was instituted under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.

If pupils in grades five, eight and 11 drop below state academic standards for four or more consecutive years, the Department of Education sends in an advisory team to suggest changes in areas such as curriculum, leadership and professional development. If the slide continues, the state takes over governance of the school or district.

A team of advisers was dispatched to the Aliquippa School District a few weeks ago, said Sally Chamberlain, a state division chief for district and school development.

"It's a cooperative thing, though," she said. "The district has to agree to allow the team to come in."

As it stands, East Allegheny is under warning status because the high and middle schools failed to meet academic goals for the third year. The schools, which are housed in one building, are on the state's School Improvement II list.

For 2004-2005, state targets were 54 percent proficiency in reading and 45 percent in math. State figures indicate that 53 percent of East Allegheny students who took the PSSA tests scored proficient or better in reading and 43.4 percent were proficient or better in math.

School Improvement II requires the schools to develop and the district to pay for a tutoring program, according to the education department Web site, www.paayp.com.

Consequently, the district has broadened its tutoring program and now requires students who fall short in reading or math to take extra classes in those subject areas.

With the help of $66,000 in state funds, starting this month the district will offer hour-long, after-school tutoring sessions four days a week. There also will be 45 hours of summer tutoring.

If students refuse to attend, they will be held back a year, said Mr. Edmonds.

Consequently, in an effort to focus on PSSA test preparation and to avoid corrective action by the state, the district purchased three online tutorials last year.

One is a math aid called Apangea. Developed and marketed by Apangea Learning Inc., of Pittsburgh, it teaches students to set up, process and articulate solutions to story problems, a bane to many high school students.

At East Allegheny, extra study may continue until the student's senior year, if he or she misses the mark on the 11th-grade PSSA exam.

Mr. Edmonds said the district will not keep a student from graduating, but before receiving a diploma the senior will have to complete a project in the deficient subject area successfully.

Each year, state targets will rise. In 2003, AYP goals were set at 45 percent proficiency in reading and 35 percent in math. In 2010, targets will jump to 68 percent and 62 percent respectively. By 2014, 100 percent proficiency will be expected.

What's more, said Mr. Edmonds, state graduation requirements soon may include success on the PSSA.