The Pittsburgh Public Schools came close to meeting the federal achievement standards this year for the first time in six years, but likely fell short because of the performance of middle-grade special education students.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt made the announcement last night in presenting preliminary test score data to the school board Education Committee.

Mr. Roosevelt released some Pennsylvania System of School Assessment data at June 24 public event, saying the district had made substantial progress in most areas of the tests, which measure math and reading ability of students in grade 11 and grades three through eight.

Last night's presentation included additional details, such as how close the district evidently came to meeting the federal standards.

School districts meet the standards -- called "adequate yearly progress" or AYP -- through a complicated formula partly based on attendance rates, graduation rates and percentages of students taking the state standardized tests.

But the biggest factor in AYP is standardized test scores posted by students in certain grade spans and groups.

For a Pennsylvania district to make AYP this year, students in one of the designated grade spans -- three through five or six through eight, for example -- must attain a proficiency rate of at least 63 percent in reading and at least 56 percent in math. Within the spans, various "subgroups" -- minority students, poor students and special education students, for example -- also must hit the proficiency targets.

Mr. Roosevelt indicated that the district met the thresholds for attendance, graduation and test participation. He said it met the test score goals in one span -- grades six through eight -- for all students except those in special education.

If the scores of special education students in grades six through eight had been higher, he said, the district would have made AYP for the first time in six years.

Mr. Roosevelt did not release detailed information for performance of 11th-graders or students in the grades three to five span. He did not release data for individual schools, either, but said the information would be provided to board members later in the week.

The district likely will remain in "corrective action II," meaning the state could restructure it or impose other changes. But Mr. Roosevelt downplayed the possibility of state intervention, saying: "We believe the state is very committed to the direction we are taking."

Board member Jean Fink said she believed it was unfair that special education students must take the standardized tests even if they're not capable of doing so.

"How do we ever get the state to realize that?" she said.