CARLSBAD —— Students learning English at Jefferson Elementary School in Carlsbad will be spending more time with language tutors as the school responds to a failing federal report card released Wednesday, the school's principal said.

Jefferson and one other Carlsbad Unified School District school —— Carlsbad Village Academy —- failed to meet performance goals required by a federal law called the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, according to scores released Wednesday.

Most Carlsbad schools, including Jefferson, raised their passing rates last year on state math and English tests. But the scores for Jefferson did not improve enough to meet the required passing rates laid out in the federal law, rates that almost doubled this year.

Neither Jefferson nor Carlsbad Village Academy will be penalized yet. Only after two consecutive years of poor grades would they face sanctions, under federal law.

Compared with other districts around North County and the state's more than 9,000 schools, Carlsbad students fared well. For example, all but three schools in Vista are failing to meet federal standards under the No Child Left Behind, according to scores released Wednesday by the California Department of Education.

Although district officials in the neighboring San Dieguito Union High School District are celebrating passage of all schools in all categories, they have already begun offering support classes in math and language arts to a small group of students at two schools that scored lower than last year, said Margie Bulkin, executive director of instructional services.

Last spring, students took a battery of tests in math and language arts based on California academic standards. The results of those tests form the basis for two different interpretations of the data —— one by the state Department of Education and another by the federal government.

According to the state's report, known as the Accountability Performance Index, Carlsbad students have already achieved the state goal of 800 points. In comparison, the statewide average score was 709 for 2005, up 20 points from last year.

Districtwide, Carlsbad students improved by nine points, moving from 812 to 821. Each year, the state sets a higher goal for each school based on a variety of demographic data and past performance.

In contrast, the federal report measures student performance against a set goal. Each year, a certain percentage of students must pass, building toward 100 percent proficiency by 2013.

The federal report is required by the No Child Left Behind, a U.S. law that requires schools to test students in math and English and punishes campuses that fall short of the set standard. Only campuses that receive extra federal funding —— known as "Title I" funds —— for serving high populations of poor and minority students could face federal sanctions.

No school in either coastal district will face federal sanctions this year.

In this fourth year of the No Child Left Behind, 23 percent of Carlsbad's students needed to pass the language arts section, and 23.7 percent needed to pass in math. As a whole, Carlsbad met the federal goal.

But at the individual school level, Jefferson Elementary and Carlsbad Seaside Academy, the district's continuation high school, did not meet the federal goal.

Federal law requires that each school address the needs of various demographic "subgroups." All subgroups, not just the student body at large, must meet those standards for the school to meet federal standards.

Of Jefferson's 1,542 students, a failing grade by 142 students in the "English learners" subgroup caused the entire school to fail. Twenty percent of the English learners subgroup passed —— just a few percentage points short of the federal goal.

"By definition, language learners aren't proficient in English, so for us to have 20 percent proficient is excellent," said Principal Carol Van Vooren. "But the government is asking for 24.4 percent, so we'll target kids and we'll get there."

Had just nine more students passed, the school would have met the federal goal, Van Vooren noted.

Van Vooren said the school already has language tutors working with students, and that she has already identified 74 students who failed but scored very close to a passing grade.

In San Dieguito, all schools passed, as did the district as a whole. However, a dip in scores in several subgroups already has district officials preparing for next year's tests. Four subgroups —— Latinos, low-income children, English learners and students with disabilities —— made this year's goal, but could fall short next year without improvement, according to the scores released Wednesday.

Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at 760-901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com.

For a list of the schools in the county and links to their reports, visit this link: www.nctimes.com/special_reports/schools.