Measuring Learner Success

"Reading Recovery...teaches children how to read and reduces the number of students who are labeled 'learning disabled' and the number of students who are placed in remedial reading programs." 
                                                                                                                                                  -- Learning Disabilities (1995)

Since Reading Recovery began in the United States in 1984, student outcomes have been documented on every child served. Reading Recovery has specific measurable goals for each child. The achievement of goals is measured using the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement.

What is Success?

Success in Reading Recovery means a student

• has demonstrated independent reading and writing strategies that will allow continued achievement.
• can read within the average range of the class reading performance.
• has made accelerated gains - not only increasing knowledge but doing so at an accelerated rate.

What is the Reading Recovery Success Rate?

• 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.
• Since 1984 when Reading Recovery began in North America, 80% of students who complete the full 12 to 20-week series of lessons, and 59% of all students who have any lessons, can read and write within the average range of their class.
• Follow-up studies indicate that most Reading Recovery students also do well on standardized tests and maintain their gains in later years.
• The few students who are still having difficulty after a full series of lessons are referred for further evaluation. They may be candidates for longer-term programs.
• Even children who do not successfully complete the series of lessons make important gains on all six measures of reading as assessed on the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement.
• With good classroom teaching, Reading Recovery students sustain their gains in subsequent years.

How is Reading Recovery Research Carried Out?

Research and evaluation are carried out by the National Data Evaluation Center (NDEC) for Reading Recovery housed at The Ohio State University. NDEC collects data from every site in the United States each year, including pre- and post-intervention measures on every child who receives Reading Recovery instruction. Each child is assessed formally before entering Reading Recovery, again upon leaving Reading Recovery, and at the end of the school year. This assessment provides direct accountability for the child's progress and is a record of strengths and continuing needs for the child.

Besides NDEC evaluation at The Ohio State University, Reading Recovery evaluation and research are conducted by university training centers throughout the United States. Evaluation also includes qualitative data on implementation such as surveys from Reading Recovery educators, administrators, and parents.

What are the criteria for success?

Criteria for a child's successful completion of Reading Recovery includes the ability to read texts that have

• long stretches of print with few pictures
• full pages of print without pictures
• complex story structures that require sophisticated ways of understanding
• complex ideas that require background knowledge to understand and interpret
• many multi-syllable words
• new words to decode without help from illustrations
• some vocabulary words that are unfamiliar

Sources:

International Reading Association. (1995). Learning disabilities - A barrier to literacy instruction. Washington, DC: Author.

Clay, M.M. (1993). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.