COLUMBUS — Senate lawmakers on Wednesday put the final touches on a bill overhauling the way Ohio tests its children and reports the results.

        Under the bill, which goes now to Gov. Bob Taft, schoolchildren would no longer face a week of proficiency tests in the fourth grade and districts could punish chronically failing schools.

        The GOP-controlled Senate approved the measure — Senate Bill 1 — 30-3, with three Democrats voting no. Senators Mark Mallory of Cincinnati, Mike Shoemaker of Bourneville and Bob Hagan of Youngstown opposed the measure.

        After the Senate passed the bill in March, Mr. Taft raised concerns that it didn't do enough to intervene when schools consistently failed to meet academic standards.

        The House version approved last week added several provisions for dealing with such schools. Options could include firing a principal, changing a school's entire staff or allowing students to transfer to a better school.

        House lawmakers also approved a proposal that a school building must be placed in academic emergency for three years instead of two before a district could intervene.

        Senate Education Chairman Robert Gardner, a Madison Republican, said House lawmakers improved the bill.

        Senate Bill 1 incorporated several recommendations made by Taft's Commission for Student Success last year.

        The recommendations include replacing Ohio's proficiency test with a new series of tests. The bill also would:

        • Match proficiency tests with a new set of academic guidelines so students and teachers know the tests will cover what they are studying. Currently, the tests and academic standards don't match.

        • Require that students who don't pass a statewide reading test in third grade receive help.

        • Require the state to provide extensive new data on test results, including results by race, gender, ethnicity and economic status.

        In addition, while the current proficiency tests are being phased out, the state will extend the fourth- and sixth-grade proficiency tests from one week to two, beginning next year.

        Leigh Herington of Ravenna, the top-ranking Senate Democrat, said the bill did many good things but criticized Republicans for not including funding for many of its requirements.

        He said it didn't provide the funding that teacher training and intervention actions at schools would need.

        Mr. Taft plans to sign the bill soon, spokesman Kevin Kellems said.

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