Consider Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) a misnomer, or least an understatement; satisfying its mandates demands a far greater than adequate effort. Established in the No Child Left Behind Act, AYP requires that districts and schools show a minimum, prescribed level of growth in student achievement, until the year 2013-2014, when every eligible public school student must pass state assessments in math and reading. However, schools struggling with AYP should look to the example of dozens of their counterparts around the country that have taken a personal approach to raising test scores. Instead of applying broad academic policies and inviting teachers to statewide conferences to learn about new teaching methods, these schools use data to gauge student progress at any point during the school year, and then use the information to customize curriculum and instructional programs. This article cites examples of schools who use data-driven strategies and personalized instruction to achieve higher test scores. Personalizing instruction has worked wonders at Adams 12 Five Star Schools (Colorado), where educators use their student information systems and assessment tools to drill down to a particular student's weaknesses, to evaluate teaching methods and curriculum, and to apply new skills and technologies to improve test scores. California's Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) offers another impressive example of the benefit of using individualized strategies. Elk Grove evaluates student data via a sophisticated student information system called SISWeb. Data is gathered and manually loaded into the system. SISWeb houses student test results, parent information, medical data, emergency contacts, any special education needs, and more. Minneapolis (Minnesota) Public School District uses a customized assessment solution in collaboration with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NEA), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping all children learn. NEA provides research-based educational growth measures, professional training, and consulting services to improve teaching and learning. The two groups have collaborated over the past 10 years on the Northwest Achievement Levels Test to measure yearly growth in reading and mathematics. The Sacramento City Unified School District (California) houses California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) information in a home-built database that allows principals and teachers to sort data by class, test scores, subjects, and areas of deficiency. Principals and teachers can log into the database at any time from any computer to examine results for an entire class or for one student.