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For comments and questions, contact:

Dozie Herbruck
Learning Specialist
University School
20701 Brantley Rd.
Cleveland, OH 44122

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Reading Recovery Program

Overview of Reading Recovery

Success in learning to become literate during the first two years at school is critical to children's ability to function productively throughout schooling and beyond.

Reading Recovery is an early intervention program for first grade children who have not gotten underway with learning how to read and write after a year in kindergarten. The lowest achieving first graders are identified and provided with extra daily individual instruction for 30 minutes by a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher.

The Reading Recovery teacher's program with the child is designed to take the confusion out of reading and writing. The child's learning accelerates to the point where he can effectively participate in the regular classroom program at average class levels, typically in 12 - 20 weeks.

The Reading Recovery Program was designed in New Zealand by Professor Marie Clay, based on her long-term systematic research into literacy acquisition. The program has been implemented in New Zealand, England, Canada, and the United States, among other countries, and has been proven to be effective in all these diverse education systems.

Rationale

Good first teaching in the classroom is essential for children to get underway with literacy learning. All children must have the opportunity in their first year of school to learn at their own pace in a good reading/writing program with sensitive, well-trained teachers.

While most children move easily into classroom reading/writing programs, some find the transitions difficult and become confused. If these children are left to flounder with their confusions and narrow range of strategies for making sense of print, they get out of step with the class program, and fall further and further behind their rapidly progressing classmates. More importantly, if they continue to use their inappropriate strategies daily, these become habitual and very resistant to change.

Reading Recovery is a preventive measure designed to identify and assist these children before they experience consistent difficulties and failure. It is not a long term remedial program, but rather it can be thought of as a second chance for children to learn.

The prevention of reading and writing failure must be considered the responsibility of the whole school. An understanding of the principles of Reading Recovery by the whole school community, and its commitment to implementing them, is necessary for the program to operate effectively within the school.

Maintaining Quality

The key people in the United States are the Reading Recovery teacher-leaders, who have undertaken a year of full-time training at Ohio State University. They oversee the operation of Reading Recovery at a system level. In a year-long inservice course, they train experienced classroom teachers in the conceptual and practical aspects of the program. Then, through regular inservice and visits to schools, the teacher-leaders provide support and encouragement for Reading Recovery teachers to continue to develop their critical thinking and proficiency in working with the children.

Conclusion

Reading Recovery has been shown to be effective in preventing reading and writing failure. Its system-wide implementation will significantly reduce the number of children progressing through primary and secondary schools with reading and writing difficulties. Such a reduction will allow classroom teachers to be more effective in their teaching across the curriculum, and benefit all students because of the extra teacher time available to them.

Reading Recovery also has far reaching positive effects on the lives of the individual children assisted. As they gain control of their own learning in reading and writing through the program, the children become active, constructive learners in the classroom, continuing to progress without the need for extra support. The experience of success and of being in step with their peers often has important positive effects on children's self esteem and their social interactions with other children, parents and teachers, facilitating further progress in learning.

For the proportion of children not getting underway in the classroom, Reading Recovery provides a vital second chance to learn. This helps to ensure that every child begins the task of learning to become literate with success.

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