TALENT PROMOTS 'READING GUARANTEE' PROGRAM

Jim Talent didn't have to worry about reading the fine print. The words were plenty big.

Seated in a rocking chair, Missouri's Republican gubernatorial candidate read to five first graders in a reading classroom at Franklin Elementary School in Cape Girardeau Friday afternoon.

"My name is Jim Talent and I like to read," he told the students before reading two oversized "Mrs. Wishy-Washy" books that centered around bathing farm animals.

"I wish that's all you had to do to run for governor is go read books," he said as teachers and reporters looked on.

Later, Talent spoke to reporters about his proposed "Reading Guarantee" program.

Talent wants to implement the program if elected governor.

Under the plan, the state would help schools identify every Missouri third grader with a reading problem and then attempt to give them a "jump-start" to bring their skills up to minimum proficiency levels before the next school year.

Talent said his program would end "social promotion" of students because children who failed to meet the minimum standards in reading wouldn't advance to the next grade until they could adequately read or their needs were addressed with intensive individualized instruction.

Under the program, every third grader in public schools would be given a thorough standardized reading test early in the school year.

Those who failed the test would be tutored in reading. Those students would be re-tested by the end of the school year.

Those who still did not meet the minimum standard would be given more instruction and re-tested before the start of the next school year.

If a child still failed the test, parents, the school and state education officials would decide whether it would be in the best interests of the child to advance to the next grade.

Under the plan, the state would make standardized reading tests available and would set up a special fund for reading improvements.

The state also would make available to all school districts phonics-based curriculums for kindergarten, first and second grades.

Talent said the state's own tests show that only three out of 10 third graders are proficient in reading. The number goes down to two out of 10 by the 11th grade, he said.

The state, Talent said, would only get involved in the curriculum if a school continually fails in teaching reading skills to its students.

"The idea is not to tell the schools how to do this," he said. Schools already are burdened with too much red tape, Talent said.

Talent said he doesn't believe that would be a problem for most of Missouri's schools. "Most of the schools are doing pretty well," he said.