Reading Recovery® is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders: the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible. 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.
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 successfully discontinued and new students begin individual instruction.
Professional development is an essential part of Reading Recovery, utilizing a three-tiered approach that includes Teachers, Teacher Leaders, and University Trainers. With the support of the Teacher Leader, Reading Recovery teachers develop observational skills and a repertoire of intervention procedures tailored to meet the individual needs of at-risk students. After a training hiatus of twelve years, a new cohort of 6 teachers will be trained in this 2020-2021 school year. This will bring the cadre of Reading Recovery teachers to 11: 1 Teacher Leader, 4 Trained Teachers and 6 Teachers in training.
Reading Recovery has a strong tradition of success with the lowest-achieving children. Developed in New Zealand, 30 years ago, Reading Recovery now also operates in most states in the United States, as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Reading Recovery® has been in existence in Anguilla since 1998 thanks to the consistent support of the Ministry and Department of Education. Anguilla is the only Caribbean island where this programme is currently being offered. Anguilla’s Reading Recovery Training Site has just been reaccredited and is currently in compliance with the training and implementation criteria set forth in the 2018 Standards and Guidelines of Reading Recovery in the United States, as approved by The Ohio State University.
– Contributed