Most Baltimore eighth-graders who failed to meet tougher passing standards last academic year were promoted to high school anyway.

And among those who were placed in transitional classes designed to help them catch up last fall, the majority were sent to ninth grade midway through the school year even though they still didn't meet all the requirements, school officials have reported.

About 2,000 eighth-graders did not meet all of the standards during the 2000-2001 school year and were eligible to participate in the grade nine transitional program, called 9T, this school year. But only 509 took part.

Of those who did, 59 percent failed the Maryland functional math test and 48 percent failed the Maryland writing test by the end of the program, according to an evaluation report presented to the school board last month. About a third failed transitional courses in English, math and reading. In addition, the evaluation said, "minimal growth" was made on the national Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills.

Still, 90 percent of students who participated in the program were promoted to full-fledged ninth-grade status halfway through the year. Only one of the 10 high schools that offered 9T, Patterson High, kept students in transitional classes during the second semester, according to the report.

School system officials, including Chief Executive Officer Carmen V. Russo, have said that they consider the 9T program a success and intend to expand it this fall, when as many as 4,000 students may be eligible to participate.

But the system's own evaluation report indicated that the program was riddled with problems. Among them:

"Limited resources" were provided to support it.

The identification of students who should have participated was "uneven."

Staff members were identified "late" and were provided with little training.

Not all the schools offered the same courses.

The 78 percent attendance rate was considerably lower than the 87 percent average for regular ninth-graders.

Some school board members have expressed concern that students who aren't meeting the requirements have not been getting the help they need to be successful - something the board promised the school system would provide when it passed the stricter standards.

In an interview this week, board member Sam Stringfield said that enforcement of the new promotion policy "fell through the cracks" last year and that the 9T program needs to be improved.

"To me, it was a start-up, and that's what happens in start-ups," Stringfield said. "If it's not substantially stronger next year, I'll be very disappointed."

Last month, board Vice Chairman C. William Struever called the issue of providing interventions for failing students "one of the biggest issues before the board." He questioned whether the school system has budgeted enough resources to fund an effective program this fall.

School system spokeswoman Edie House said that, systemwide, the eighth-graders who were promoted last year without having met the requirements were given extra help, including after school and on Saturdays.

The school system launched its first transition academy during the 2000-2001 school year for failing eighth-graders scheduled to attend Southwestern High School.

The program, which served about 60 students at Port Discovery, was considered a success and was supposed to have served as a model for when the school system expanded the initiative.

For years, the school system had an unwritten policy of "social promotion," in which children were promoted no matter how they were performing academically. That meant thousands got to high school while reading and doing math at a third- or fourth-grade levels.

The promotion policy, which the board made a top priority, was designed to stop that.

What may be at stake, then, with the 9T program is the effectiveness of the promotion policy. In other words, adopting rigorous passing standards likely won't do much to raise achievement across the school district unless the children who need extra help get it - and unless that help is effective.

The program evaluation showed that many students who failed transitional courses or at least one of the functional exams, which are considered basic competency tests and are requirements for promotion, were promoted later anyway.

At Northern High School, 25 of the 51 students who took the transitional reading course failed it, as did 31 of 49 students who took the transitional math class. At Southern, 18 of 19 students failed transitional English. At Frederick Douglass, 32 of 50 students failed transitional math.

All were promoted to high school status at the end of the program.

Overall, the evaluation said, more than 200 of the 509 9T students had failed to pass either the math or writing functional test by the end of the program. It is unclear how many of the 9T students who were promoted to full ninth-grade status have enough credits to advance to the 10th grade.

School officials have said they plan to add a transitional program for fifth-graders.

The evaluation report offered several recommendations for making the transitional programs better, including developing clear entrance and exit requirements for students and establishing an office of intervention to monitor implementation.

Stringfield said that the recommendations "make good sense" and urged school administrators to follow them.

"These are the things we're going to hold your feet to the fire on this fall," he said.