This study compares average SAT 9 reading scores of second through fifth grade English-only children in schools using "Open Court" (a program for teaching young children to read) with the scores of comparable schools using non-scripted programs in one very large urban school district in California. Findings show that schools using "Open Court" are significantly more likely to be in the bottom quartile than comparable schools using non-scripted programs. Findings suggest that "Open Court" limits what children are able to achieve in literacy relative to what they are able to achieve via many other programs. (Contains 20 references and 4 tables of data.) (RS)