Hawaii public school students saw sizable gains in reading and math proficiency in the school year that just ended, test scores released today show.

Altogether, 71 percent of students in tested grades were proficient in reading, up from 66 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, 59 percent of students tested proficient in math, from 54 percent.

The gains meant the raw number of students who tested proficient in reading and math in 2012 increased by about 6,000 in each subject from last year.

“The remarkable growth in reading and math proficiency for all grade levels is a direct reflection of the hard work of our educators and students,” schools Superintendent Kathy Matayoshi said, in a news release. “Our plan to create systemic change is working. Increasingly, more students in more schools across the state on the path toward college and career readiness.”

Meanwhile, 53 percent of the state’s 286 public schools failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress goals for reading and math proficiency under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

That’s down from last year, when 59 percent of schools didn’t meet the goals.

For a school to meet AYP, 72 percent of students had to have tested proficient in reading and 64 percent proficient in math.