The federal government has renewed a waiver that gives Michigan some wiggle room when it comes to school improvement requirements under No Child Left Behind.
Under the renewal, the state won't have to identify additional struggling schools until 2017.
"Struggling" includes those designated as focus schools and priority schools.
Focus schools have large achievement gaps, while priority schools are those performing in the bottom 5 percent, statewide.
The reasoning behind the renewal comes down to test scores.
The state tossed out the 44-year-old MEAP test in 2013 and replaced it with the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress last spring.
The Michigan Department of Education says it needs time to collect data based on scores from the new test before deciding which schools are struggling.
The state will be able to collect two year's worth of scores before the renewal expires at the end of the 2017/18 school year.
