Hawaii will join a number of other states in seeking a waiver to key provisions of the decade-old federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires that schools hit rising reading and math proficiency targets or face sanctions.

If approved, the waiver would apply for this school year.

The waiver is "not a pass on accountability," said Stephen Schatz, head of the state Department of Education’s Office of Strategic Reform. He added that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has "made it very clear that he’s looking for states to raise the bar on accountability" with the waivers.

The waiver application requires states to spell out what alternate accountability system it will use to rate schools. To get the waiver, states must also agree to adopt high standards for preparing students for college and careers, which Hawaii has already done, and implement evaluations for teachers and principals that take into account student growth.

More than 20 states have expressed interest in seeking NCLB waivers.

Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said the NCLB waiver will "provide states with a rigorous alternative to the current … one-size-fits-all approach and the responsibility to redefine academic success."

The announcement comes as some of the state’s top public schools are facing sanctions for failing to meet annual objectives under NCLB, a situation that is frustrating teachers and principals and confusing to parents.

This year, 62 percent of Hawaii’s 286 schools failed to meet NCLB benchmarks for student reading and math proficiency, up from 49 percent last year. For most Hawaii schools to meet adequate yearly progress this year, 72 percent of students had to test proficient in reading, 64 percent in math.

DOE officials say the annual benchmarks don’t take into account the considerable growth in math and reading proficiency seen in many schools. Some 66 percent of students tested proficient in reading this year, up from 60 percent in 2007; 54 percent were proficient in math, from 38 percent.

Critics of the Bush-era NCLB initiative say it puts too much emphasis on standardized testing and has labeled too many schools making progress as failing. Of particular concern for states is the law’s requirement that all public school students be on grade level in math and reading by 2014.

The deadline for states to alert the U.S. DOE of their intentions to seek a waiver is today. Hawaii plans to submit its waiver application Feb. 15, after having discussions with school administrators, advocates and community members about what the state’s accountability system should look like.

Schatz said the system will almost certainly include test scores, which is currently the main way that schools are rated, but could also include other information — such as ninth-grade retention rates — that would help determine whether schools are adequately preparing students.

He added that Hawaii is ahead of the curve in preparing for the waiver because some of the requirements are similar to those that the state pledged to make in order to snag its $75 million Race to the Top grant. Hawaii was among 10 winners — nine states and the District of Columbia — to be awarded the federal funds in a second round of grants last year.

One of the requirements of the NCLB waiver, for example, is that states agree to implement an evaluation system that will rate teachers, in part, on the gains their students make. Hawaii is piloting a new evaluation system now as part of its Race to the Top reforms, and expects to expand it to schools statewide by 2014.

Christine Sorensen, dean of the College of Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said in trying to design an accountability for student gains, the state should also remember that "treating schools fairly doesn’t mean treating them all the same." She pointed out some schools have special challenges, such as disadvantaged kids coming to school hungry.

"Kids can’t learn if they’re worried about day-to-day survival," she said.