No Initiative
This story in the Austin, Texas newspaper about statewide reading test scores notes that "the best passing rates cannot be linked to district wealth, school size or race," and casts doubt on the concept that a one-size-fits-all "reading initiative" like the costly program proposed by Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist are really that effective.

Consider the Houston school district, which in recent years has used $3 million in state grants to pay for specialists to help children who are struggling with reading and for coaches to provide teacher training - the exact kind of program Sundquist envisions for all Tennessee schools.

A lot of that money was spent at one Houston elementary school which subsequently saw a 20-percentage point drop in the passing rate on the third-grade reading test. Notes the Austin paper: "The percentage of students passing the reading test dropped despite reading specialists and coaches."

But in Williamson County, Texas, an affluent suburb north of Austin, "programs to tutor individual students sparked a boost" in scores. In that county, schools in the town of Georgetown used tutoring sessions after school or during class time, while in nearby Round Rock teachers at each school spend some of their conference time or after-school time giving extra tutoring to kids needing help with reading.

And it didn't take a budget-busting "reading initiative" to funnel more money into the schools to get it done - it merely took teachers who did what they are already paid to do: teach kids how to read.