Their lack of progress on the federal measure -- despite some gains on state exams -- will bring sanctions to six more West Contra Costa schools.

Those campuses join 11 others in the district already required to comply with federal penalties.

Parents of students at these schools will be notified of their right under the No Child Left Behind act to transfer their child to a higher-performing school. The school is responsible for transportation costs associated with the transfer.

But with one-quarter of the district's schools now required by federal law to offer parents a transfer option, it is not clear how the district will meet the potential demand.

Already this school year, 614 parents have asked to transfer their students out of low-performing schools. Just 43 percent of those requests have been granted.

"We're transferring as many as we possibly can right now," said assistant superintendent Sylvester Greenwood.

"And when a school gets full we stop the transfers. When the capacity is met then that is all we can do. We feel that we're meeting the letter of the law."

The ease with which a school can make great gains on state tests, yet miss its federal mark, shows the difficult task schools face as they work to comply with the No Child Left Behind act.

The federal legislation requires all students to be proficient in reading and writing by 2014.

No school in California has reached that level, but the state has set yearly goals -- called "Adequate Yearly Progress" -- for schools to meet to help them get there.

Verde Elementary School missed its AYP. But students at the North Richmond campus scored higher on the state's tough new exam, which tests students' knowledge of classroom instruction.

Students taking the California Standards Test are ranked on a fixed scale: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic. The state's goal is for all students to reach proficient or higher.

At Verde, few students hit that mark. But a growing number are moving out of the below and far below basic level, state results showed.

Close to 90 percent of Verde's incoming fourth graders, for example, scored below and far below basic in reading during their second grade year.

As third graders, just 47 percent scored that low. And, for the first time, a small number of third-grade students ranked advanced and proficient in reading.

"We jumped across the board," said Verde Elementary School Principal Janice Banks-Thompson. "Now it's like we're on a launching pad. The kids are ready to take off."

Overall, West Contra Costa students considered proficient or higher increased an average of 2.3 percentage points.

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT SCHOOLS

Seventeen West Contra Costa Title I schools are in Program Improvement, giving parents the option under No Child Left Behind to transfer their students to higher-performing campuses.

Adams Middle

Bayview Elementary

Chavez Elementary

Downer Elementary

Ford Elementary

Helms Middle

Kennedy High

King Elementary

Lake Elementary

Lincoln Elementary

Nystrom Elementary

Peres Elementary

Portola Middle

Richmond High

Riverside Elementary

Stege Elementary

Verde Elementary