What is Reading Recovery?

Reading Recovery is a short-term, research-based, early intervention for first grade children with serious reading problems. Children who are at greatest risk of reading failure receive one-to-one instructionfor 30 minutes daily by a certified Reading Recovery Teacher. Children who receive tutoring by a certified Reading Recovery Teacher will be reading at the average of the class within 12-20 weeks, because the lessons are specifically designed to meet individual needs. Providing this kind of intensive, individual lesson can prevent the cycle of frustration and failure that children fall into when they cannot read.

How Are Students Selected?

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At the beginning of each academic year, children having difficulty learning to read and write are selected for Reading Recovery. They are selected based on teacher judgement and the Observation Survey. Using both of these measures the lowest achieving children are chosen first. Measures on the Observation Survey are also used to determine the progress made by children who receive the intervention. The following six measures comprise the Observation Survey which is administered individually:

• Letter identification
• Concepts about print
• Text reading level
• Hearing and recording sounds in words
• Word test
• Writing vocabulary

The Reading Lesson

Each lesson includes the following:

• Reading familiar stories
• Reading a story that was read for the first time the day before
• Working with letters and/or words using magnetic letters
• Writing a story
• Assembling a cut-up sentence
• Reading a new book that will be read independently the next day