READING RECOVERY
Description
Reading Recovery is an early, short-term intervention program for the lowest achieving students in grade one, regardless of their ethnic, linguistic or socio-economic background, intelligence, language, achievement, physical handicaps or learning disabilities. Its goal is to enable these initially “at risk” students to make accelerated progress and to become competent, independent readers in approximately 12 to 20 weeks of daily, individual, 30 minute lessons. Reading Recovery is based on extensive research into the learning process and how one learns to read and write. The program was developed by Dr. Marie Clay and has been successfully implemented in Canada for more than a decade.
Outcomes
Longitudinal research into Reading Recovery in New Zealand , Australia , Britain and the United States has indicated that over 75% of Reading Recovery students will reach the goal of independent readers and require no further compensatory education in literacy learning in their academic careers. The results of on-going research in Scarborough have been consistent with these findings.
Benefits
* Reading Recovery does not exclude students.
* Record keeping and data requirements of Reading Recovery at all levels allows for independent external assessment of the implementation for the purpose of accountability.
* Reading Recovery gives classroom teacher access to an in-school expert in early literacy programs in the schools with corresponding improvements in the performance of the students.
* The Reading Recovery teacher can carry out initial early identification screening without outside assistance.
* Reading Recovery helps the classroom teacher meet the individual needs of his/her students, the major factor in teacher job satisfaction.
* Since Reading Recovery requires all participants (Trainers of Teacher Leaders, Teacher Leaders, and Reading Recovery Teachers) to work continuously with at-risk students, a unique networking systems is created among University, Board, and classroom personnel.
* The extensive clinical requirements of training at all levels and the on-going teacher education ensure the quality control of the intervention, and dissemination of any new research generated.
* Reading Recovery reduces demands on clinical services and costs of retention.
* Reading Recovery has the potential to lower the dropout rate.
* Parents become partners with the education system in their children's literacy learning.
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