Hawaii’s new, more rigorous Smarter Balanced exam proved especially challenging for special-education students, test data shared Tuesday with the Board of Education show.

Only 1 in 9 special-education students who took the Common Core-aligned assessment scored at or above achievement benchmarks in math, while roughly 1 in 8 were deemed proficient in English language arts for the 2014-15 school year. Special-education students make up close to 10 percent of public school students.

The state’s special-education advisory panel called the achievement levels “abysmal” and called on the Department of Education to increase resources for special-needs students.

“Achievement was abysmal overall for students with IEPs,” or individualized education programs, Martha Guinan, chairwoman of the Special Education Advisory Council, said in written testimony. “We find these latest (scores) create a sense of urgency in prioritizing supports, personnel, and innovative strategies to our students who are most at risk of academic failure.”

The Smarter Balanced Assessment — which replaced the former Hawaii State Assessment — satisfies the federal mandate that states test students annually in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. More than 89,300 public school students took the test for the first time last school year, with a 97 percent participation rate among eligible students.

When statewide scores were released in September, BOE members cited concerns that the gap in scores between so-called high-needs students and their non-high-needs peers has remained relatively flat in recent years despite a stated goal by the Department of Education to narrow the achievement gap.

Overall, 59 percent of non-high-needs students met or exceeded standards in math, while 31 percent of high-needs students tested proficient — a 28-point gap that’s unchanged from the year prior. Meanwhile, 68 percent of non-high-needs students met or exceeded standards in English language arts, while 37 percent of high-needs students tested proficient — a 31-point gap that widened by 3 points from the year before.

To better understand the performance of students categorized as high-needs, the BOE requested a breakdown of scores among the three subsets of students: special-education, English language learners and those considered economically disadvantaged. The three groups collectively represent 58 percent of all public school students, or 110,168 students in all grades.

The department Tuesday presented a breakdown to the board’s Student Achievement Committee showing:

>> 11 percent of special-education students met or exceeded grade-level standards in math, while 13 percent tested proficient or higher in language arts.

>> 30 percent of current or recently “exited” English language learners met or exceeded achievement standards in math, while 32 percent tested proficient or higher in language arts.

>> 30 percent of economically disadvantaged students met or exceeded achievement standards in math, while 36 percent tested proficient or higher in language arts.

“Closing the achievement gap is something we concentrate on at all levels of the public school system. We have high expectations for all of our kids regardless of their background, regardless of their language needs, regardless of whether they have learning disabilities — it starts with high expectations,” Stephen Schatz, deputy superintendent for the DOE, said after the meeting. “We have to look forward from this point. Certainly, we’re not happy with where we are with regards to our different subgroups and their performance. But we know there are bright spots in some of our schools, where those different groups of students are achieving at a really high level. So what we’re trying to do now is learn from those schools that are having success, and trying to scale that success.”

BOE Vice Chairman Brian De Lima, who has a special-needs daughter in public school, said that while he is concerned with the low scores, he appreciates that students are encouraged to try their best.

“I’ve spoken to some teachers who are very successful with students who have special needs … and they insist on discipline in the context of focus. They demand effort, and when the student is not successful, they encourage and surround them with the fact that there is success in the effort,” he said.

Students receiving special-education services are provided more than two dozen test accommodations appropriate to their disability, including, for example, sign-language services, visual aids or a smaller test setting. The federal government allows the state DOE to give up to 1 percent of special-education students — approximately 900 to 1,000 students — an alternate state-developed assessment.

“We’re measuring all of our kids because we care about their learning and success, and that of course includes special-education students and high-needs students,” said Tammi Chun, assistant superintendent for strategy, innovation and performance.