MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Nearly half of Minnesota schools didn't make the grade under the federal No Child Left Behind law in 2011.

The Minnesota Department of Education on Friday released its lists of schools that failed to make what the law calls "Adequate Yearly Progress" toward having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014.

A new waiver program could mean this is the last year the list will be released.

The law has been widely criticized for labeling too many schools as failures based on the test scores of small subgroups of students.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would grant waivers to parts of the law in exchange for states adopting certain education reforms. Minnesota plans to apply in November.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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