Today there is much concern that literacy levels are falling. Because there are extremely high numbers of seven year olds that are unable to read, it makes sense to identify these at-risk children and intervene at an early age (Center, Wheldall, & Freeman, 1992). The primary focus of the Reading Recovery Program is to provide one-to-one tutoring to first grade students who are in the lowest twenty percent of the

Reading Recovery was developed by Dr. Marie Clay in the 1960’s. She conducted observational research which was the groundwork for the Reading Recovery Program. She laid the foundation for the techniques in detecting early reading and writing problems of children. In the mid-1970’s, Dr. Clay worked with a team of experienced teachers in New Zealand and was able to develop program procedures and conducted field trials. Because of the success of the field trials, New Zealand adopted the Reading Recovery Program. This was the pilot program which led to the nationwide adoption of the Reading Recovery Program in the early 1980’s. The United States was introduced to Reading Recovery in 1984. Over the next decade Reading Recovery sites opened worldwide.

I was unable to locate information regarding the implementation of adaptations made for special learners. Each of the Reading Recovery Program lessons is individualized, and there is no set standard. This is another area that is connected to the financial aspect of implementation. Individualized lessons do not require a set of expensive materials but rather the teacher’s experience and careful selection of reading materials and interaction with the child is extremely important. It allows the teacher to assess and monitor the child’s progress.

Teachers are selected via criteria. Typically, teachers must have a minimum three years of teaching experience, have primary level experience, and have recommendations from the principal and administrators. The teachers are then put through a special in-service program for over a year. This special program allows the teachers to teach without losing time in providing services to the children.

Implementation and cooperation play a major part in the success levels of the program. There are numerous benefits that cannot be accurately projected in terms of dollars. When a district implements Reading Recovery, it gets an understanding of the need for early assessment and intervention; a powerful research-based assessment system for identifying children with difficulties; a strong staff development for teachers of lower achieving student; strong models of teaching low achieving children; a means of classroom management by enabling low achieving students to participate in reading and writing activities; and an increase in student’s self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Once the child is identified and referred to the Reading Recovery Program, the teacher spends the first ten sessions trying to determine what knowledge about reading and print a child already has (This is done through reading inventory sheets such as those included in this paper). The teacher then launches the student on an individually tailored program through a series of books that are graded for difficulty. In each session, the child reads several books, beginning with one that is already familiar. The child may also practice with individual letters or words. When the child has had sixty sessions or has reached an oral reading level equal to the average of his or her grade, the program ends.

There was agreement among the researchers reviewed regarding the cost of the implementation of the Reading Recovery Program. All noted that there are costs to hire and train Reading Recovery teachers as well as costs to acquire the necessary materials to begin the program. However, when comparing the success rates of children in the Reading Recovery Program with other programs that keep students for years and never reach the reading level of peers, Reading Recovery is quite cost effective. When discussing the financial aspect of Reading Recovery there are many factors to consider such as the reduction in costs for long term services, the reduction in number of children who will need ongoing costly services, the salary of the teachers based on the time with students in Reading Recovery, as well as the initial investment in books and materials, which can

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