Utah won't make public the list of which schools met goals and which didn't until Sept. 30, which is more than a month after most Utah schools begin classes. That could make it difficult for parents to take advantage of options offered by the law. Schools that accept federal money for serving low-income areas but fail to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for two years in a row must send letters to parents offering to bus students to better-performing schools. But schools can't send those letters if they don't know whether they met goals.

"It slows down [parents'] ability to get options like free tutoring and public school choice," said Gary Huggins, director of the Commission on NCLB at The Aspen Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C. "It also kind of leaves schools in limbo."

This isn't the first time Utah has released its results after the school year had started, and it might not be the last, said Judy Park, state associate schools superintendent. In fact, it's a problem with which many states grapple.

Among nearby states, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho and Wyoming have publicly released their data. California, Colorado and Arizona have not.

States are supposed to release the results before school starts, but the results are based mostly on state tests that often aren't given until the end of the school year. Some states, such as Nevada and New Mexico, test their students earlier and get results back sooner.

Nevada, for example, offers its tests after about 120 days of school. New Mexico tested last school year in February and March. Utah, by comparison, gives its tests during the last six or seven weeks of school.

Keith Rheault, Nevada superintendent of public instruction, said it's important to get results out early so parents can exercise choice without disrupting children's lives.

"If they already enrolled them, chances are they wouldn't un-enroll them and move them to another school," he said.

Utah could give the tests earlier in the year, but the tests are designed to be given at the end of instruction, Park said.

"If you don't give it to them at the end, it doesn't really demonstrate what they've learned during the year," she said.

Utah also has many year-round schools, meaning students at those schools might not take the tests until even later because their school years end later.

Huggins said he believes late NCLB data has more to do with complex state databases than with when states give their tests.

Jack Jennings, president and chief executive of the Center on Education Policy, said the demands of processing so much data make it difficult for states to release test results before school starts, which was the intent of NCLB.

"The law was intended to have the test results available before the school year so choice and tutoring could be made available," Jennings said.

No matter the reason, late data undermines the effectiveness of NCLB, Huggins said.

In fact, very few students take advantage of the option to transfer.

Nationwide, only about 2 percent of eligible students chose to be bused to another school in 2006-2007, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Only 27 Utah students chose to transfer to another school under NCLB in 2006-2007, according to the Utah Office of Education, though that number might actually be higher because of confusion over a new data system, said Karl Wilson, state director of Title 1 programs.

In Jordan School District, which had two schools that had to offer to bus students last school year, only 11 students chose to transfer, said Lisa Robinson, Jordan Title 1 coordinator.

It's unclear why so few families choose to move their children from schools failing to meet NCLB goals.

It could be because Utah only has 13 schools that must offer to bus students, results don't come out until after school starts, parents don't care how their schools do according to NCLB, or other factors.

"Most parents are pretty happy and comfortable in their neighborhood schools," Park said.

Parents aren't the only ones who sometimes struggle with the late release.

The state will release preliminary data to schools only on Aug. 22, and some schools will try to notify parents of their options then. But nearly three-fourths of Utah school districts begin classes before Aug. 22 and already have instructional plans in place by then.

James Martin, principal at Salt Lake City's Edison Elementary School, said his school changed its instructional schedule - to allow more time for math and reading - in December last year after learning the school didn't meet the NCLB objectives.

"If we had known about it earlier, we probably would have planned differently," Martin said.

Melanie Olsen, principal at Heritage Elementary School in St. George, said her school tries to plan based on the raw test scores it receives early in the summer, but she can never be completely sure where the school stands until the state decides its progress based on NCLB and the school has a chance to review the data.

"If you don't get it until you've already started school again, you feel kind of like you're trying to catch a running train," she said.

lschencker@sltrib.com

* Friday: The state will release Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results, which show whether schools are meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to schools only. Some schools that didn't make AYP might then start notifying parents by mail of their options.

* 30 days: The amount of time schools will have to appeal rulings that they did not make AYP.

* Sept. 30: The state will release AYP results to the public.

Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools are expected to make progress over time toward the ultimate goal of NCLB, that 100 percent of students test at grade level in math and reading by 2014. Each year, certain percentages of students in many ethnic, ability and income groups must score proficient or better on state reading and math tests in order for schools to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Schools that accept federal money for serving low-income areas but fail to make AYP face sanctions.

To meet AYP in Utah this year, a school must have

* an attendance rate of 93 percent or better.

* a high school graduation rate of at least 85.7 percent.

* at least 95 percent of students tested (in all groups greater than 40 students).

At the high school level

* 76 percent of students must score proficient or better on the state language arts test.

* 59 percent of students must score proficient or better on the state math test.

At the elementary and middle school level

* 77 percent of students must score proficient or better on the state language arts test.

* 71 percent of students must score proficient or better on the state math test.