More students from Wythe to Rockbridge counties passed state English and math tests this year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Education.

About 158 of the 204 public schools in that region have met federal targets under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, up from about 150 last year.

In Roanoke, pass rates rose across all student demographic groups even though 13 of the city's 29 schools missed the targets in 2007-08, the same number as the year before.

Both city high schools as well as five of the six middle schools fell short. Jackson Middle School was Roanoke's only middle school to have met the mark, an accomplishment that the school's principal, Stephanie Hogan, attributed to the staff's careful monitoring of each student's strengths and weaknesses.

"I cannot tell you how huge this is going to be for our ... community," she said.

In Montgomery County, nine of the 20 schools missed the mark, the same number as last year, even though pass rates in the county went up. Auburn High School, which met the mark the past two years, was one of the schools that fell short.

"We did make significant improvements even though the number of schools making AYP at first blush would not indicate that," said Carol Jennings, the Montgomery County school system's assessment coordinator. "We've gotten better at trying to figure out what each individual child needs."

Across Virginia, the picture was slightly different. Despite higher pass rates on math and reading tests statewide, more Virginia schools and more Virginia school districts have fallen short of the benchmarks known as Adequate Yearly Progress. That's because the cutoff to meet the federal standards goes up every year.

This year, 77 percent of Virginia students had to pass Standards of Learning tests in English and 75 percent had to pass the tests in math. Next year, 81 percent will have to pass the English tests and 79 percent will have to pass in math for a school to make AYP. The law states that every student in every school across the country will have to pass the tests by 2014.

The gap between white and minority students decreased slightly statewide this year.

The law requires that schools track how different demographic groups of students perform on the state tests. For instance, that means that a school where black or Hispanic students do poorly on the test will be labeled as having missed the target, even though the overall student body may have done well.

Roanoke Superintendent Rita Bishop said the city school system would focus on black students or students from low-income families who have struggled on the tests in the past.

For instance, at Patrick Henry High School, the pass rate for white students on the English tests was 25 percentage points higher than for black students. The gap in math was 13 percentage points.

The federal benchmarks are a separate but parallel assessment measure from state accreditation standards. Results from state standards won't be released until next month, but Roanoke school officials said that preliminary data indicate that all but seven city schools will be accredited.

The preliminary state data also indicate that for the first time, all of Montgomery County's schools have been accredited by the state, said Jennings, of the Montgomery County system.

Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science Elementary School met both the federal and state standards for the first time in several years. Principal Toni Belton said the school's staff would redouble its efforts to continue to meet the target.

"We've been up and down, and we're putting some things in place now where we will be consistently making it," she said.

Last year the school assigned a mentor to every fifth-grade student, Belton said. And this year the school has a new academic coach who will help the fifth-grade students from the former Forest Park Elementary School who will be attending Roanoke Academy.

Alleghany and Roanoke counties saw all of their schools meet the federal benchmark while one Salem school fell short -- Andrew Lewis Middle School.

Only one school missed the target this year in Franklin County. The county's superintendent said the school system would appeal. Seven of Bedford County's 21 schools missed the mark, as did one of Botetourt County's 11 schools.

Of nine Pulaski County schools, only two missed making AYP, down from four last year.