Reading Recovery: Basic Facts

Goal
The goal of Reading Recovery is to dramatically reduce the number of first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to reduce the cost of these learners to educational systems.

What
Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. 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. 

Outcomes*
There are two positive outcomes for students:

• Since 1984 when Reading Recovery began in the United States, approximately 75% of students who complete the full 12- to 20-week intervention can meet grade-level expectations in reading and writing. 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 complete intervention are recommended for further evaluation. Actions may include classroom or small- group support, a longer-term intervention, or referral to special education. This category represents a positive, supportive action on behalf of the child and the school. Diagnostic information from Reading Recovery is available to inform decisions about future actions.