CLEVELAND - Scores on the reading portion of the state fourth-grade proficiency test have dropped at more than half the schools involved in Gov. Bob Taft's OhioReads program, The Plain Dealer reported Sunday.

        Fifty-nine percent of the 749 schools that received two-year OhioReads grants in 1999-2000 - the first year of the program 1/2ndash 3/4 saw their passing rates drop during that time, according to the newspaper's review of test scores from those schools.

        The percentage is nearly identical to the 60 percent of 1,968 Ohio schools that reported fourth-grade test scores dropped in 1999-2000. The statewide passing rate jumped 8 percentage points last year, to 64 percent. Data for OhioReads schools were not yet available.

        “There is no evidence in this data that this program has been successful,” said William Notz, a statistics professor at Ohio State University.

        OhioReads, best known as Mr. Taft's signature program, has recruited more than 45,000 volunteers as tutors. More than 100,000 students in kindergarten through fourth grade receive help at 2,000 schools. The state has awarded the program $114 million in grants.

        The program's Web site says OhioReads is “Governor Bob Taft's major education initiative to improve the reading skills of Ohio's K-4th grade students so they can pass the Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency Test.”

        But Mr. Taft's office said that's not the only goal of OhioReads.

        “It's a part of it, and if it helps, that's great, but that's not the sole purpose of it,” spokesman Joe Andrews said Sunday.

        “It's to get the community involved in the schools and help students learn how to read. “If (passing the test) was the focus, we'd do it differently.”

        The state schools superintendent said OhioReads cannot be expected to improve scores.

        “OhioReads did a wonderful job of opening the school door to the community,” said Susan Tave Zellman, “but is it ultimately going to improve reading scores? No.”

        Ms. Zellman credited Mr. Taft for making OhioReads part of a broader education reform effort, including new statewide academic standards, to be aligned with new student achievement tests that will replace proficiency tests.

        Mr. Taft's opponent in the November election, Democrat Tim Hagan, has criticized the OhioReads program, saying it is well-intentioned but too expensive.

        When Mr. Taft signed the OhioReads program into law in 1999, he called it “a first step toward making sure that all Ohio school children can read by the fourth grade.”

        The legislation created an 11-member OhioReads Council, which awards three kinds of competitive, two-year grants directly to schools: up to $30,000 a year for in-school programs; up to $7,500 a year for programs run by community groups; and summer school grants of up to $7,500 a year.

        The schools can use the grants to pay for reading programs, books, manuals, computer software and training for teachers. Some schools have used the money to pay tutors, but that is discouraged, said Kelly Davids, the executive administrator for OhioReads.

        He defends the program. “The mind-set about reading in Ohio has changed, and we helped with that,” Mr. Davids said.

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