Reading Recovery Program Information

Developer and contact

Developed by Marie M. Clay, Ph.D., University of Auckland, New Zealand. Distributed through more than 20 university training centers in the United States and supported by the Reading Recovery^® Council of North America (RRCNA). Address: 400 West Wilson Bridge Road, Suite 250, Worthington, OH 43085- 5218. Email: jjohnson@readingrecovery.org. Web: http://www.readingrecovery.org. Telephone: (614) 310-7323.

Scope of use

Reading Recovery^® was developed in the mid-1970s by Dr. Clay, who first tested the program in New Zealand. According to the RRCNA, more than 1.8 million first graders in 48 states and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools have been served in the United States since Reading Recovery^® was introduced in 1984. Reading Recovery^® is also used in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Teaching

According to the Reading Recovery^® website, lessons incorporate several components of reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, writing, motivation, oral language, and independence. Each Reading Recovery^® lesson consists of reading familiar and novel stories, manipulating letters and words, and writing and assembling stories. Lessons are interactive between teacher and student, with the teacher carefully monitoring each child’s reading behavior. Reading Recovery^® lessons are discontinued when children demonstrate the ability to read consistently at the average level for their grade—between weeks 12 and 20 of the program. Those who make progress but do not reach average classroom performance after 20 weeks are referred for further evaluation and a plan for future action. Teacher training includes a one-year, university-based training program and ongoing professional development.

Cost

Reading Recovery^® is available on a nonprofit, no royalty basis. Because Reading Recovery^® in the United States is a collaboration between universities and school districts, costs include tuition for initial training and continuing professional development. To establish a Reading Recovery^® site—composed of multiple schools in a district or group of districts—a teacher leader must be trained first. Start-up costs include salary, university tuition for the Reading Recovery® coursework, and books and materials. Each site must also equip a room with a one-way mirror and sound system to provide subsequent training for the teachers. Ongoing costs include a portion of the teachers’ salaries and benefits. The typical school with Reading Recovery^® assigns these specially trained teachers to work a half day in Reading Recovery^® and the remaining half day in other capacities, such as teaching small literacy groups or kindergarten. Across the 2006–07 school year, the average US Reading Recovery^® teacher worked with eight Reading Recovery^® students and approximately 42 additional students. Ongoing salary and benefit costs for the Reading Recovery^® teachers should be assigned to the part of the day that they work with Reading Recovery^® students. In 2006, the cost of program materials was approximately $100 per student served (calculated by the RRCNA as an average over the five years, 2002–06). Sites pay an annual data evaluation fee of $350 per site plus $45 per Reading Recovery^® teacher. Related ongoing costs include professional development for both teacher leaders and teachers, books and materials for lessons, student program materials, and data evaluation fees. Sites implementing the program also pay annual technical support fees, which vary by the university that provides the Reading Recovery^® training.