Literacy

Reading Recovery®

The goal of Reading Recovery® is to provide support for children to develop effective reading and writing strategies in order to work within an average range of classroom performance.

What:  Reading Recovery® is a highly effective, short-term, intervention for children who have the lowest achievement in literacy learning in the first grade based on the DRA2 and Marie Clay’s Observation survey.  The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching.

Who:  Reading Recovery® serves the lowest-achieving first graders—the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.

How: Individual students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery® teacher. As soon as students can meet grade-level expectations and demonstrate that they can continue to work independently in the classroom, their lessons are discontinued, and new students begin individual instruction.

Professional Development:  Professional development is an essential part of Reading Recovery®, utilizing a three-tiered approach that includes teachers, teacher leaders, and university trainers. Professional development for all Reading Recovery® professionals begins with an academic year of graduate-level study and continues in subsequent years. With the support of the teacher leader, Reading Recovery® teachers develop observational skills and a repertoire of intervention procedures tailored to meet the individual needs of at-risk students.

History of Success:  Reading Recovery® has a strong tradition of success as an early intervention for the lowest-achieving children. Developed by New Zealand educator Dr. Marie M. Clay 30 years ago, Reading Recovery® now also operates in most states in the United States, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (domestic and foreign), Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Reading Recovery® is implemented in 17 Douglas County elementary schools:

For more information visit www.readingrecovery.org