Created: 9/14/2006 1:57:27 PM 
TALLAHASSEE, FL (AP) -- Florida's requirement for third graders to pass a standardized reading test before being promoted has resulted in significant learning gains by pupils who have been held back, the Manhattan Institute said a report issued Thursday.
It is the second time this week that a conservative think tank has praised Gov. Jeb Bush's education policies.
"When we measure, infuse accountability and make learning paramount, the system improves and our students directly benefit," Bush said in a statement.
The Manhattan Institute's study focused on the state's efforts to end social promotion through its requirement for pupils to get a passing reading score on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, before going into the fourth grade.
The study found that during the policy's first two years, the retained pupils made significant reading gains compared to a control group of children who were promoted even though they failed to pass the FCAT.
Researchers concluded the socially promoted pupils fell even farther behind over time, while those who were retained appeared to be able to catch up on the skills they were lacking. Those results contradict another study by University of Chicago researchers on a test-based retention program for Chicago schools.
The Manhattan Institute report concluded the conflicting results may have been due to differences between the Chicago and Florida programs.
For instance, the Chicago program did not have a clear policy permitting exemptions to test-based promotion requirements while Florida's does, according to the report. It also cited allegations of testing impropriety in Chicago.
The governor Tuesday had joined members of the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force at a news conference in Orlando to announce that panel's findings supporting the use of voucher programs and standardized testing to grade school performance.
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