Reading Recovery® in Maine 2002-2003 Executive Summary

Reading Recovery is a scientifically-based, short-term, early literacy intervention for first grade students who are having difficulty learning to read. Students receive 30 minutes per day of individualized research-based instruction from a highly skilled registered Reading Recovery teacher for 12-20 weeks. Reading Recovery enables the lowest-achieving students to make accelerated gains which help them to catch up to the average performance level of their classroom peers. The program is also a pre-referral strategy for early identification of those students who will need more extensive support even after intensive one-on-one intervention.

Reading Recovery is a research-based collaborative effort between schools, universities and departments of education. Designed by Dr. Marie M. Clay of New Zealand, Reading Recovery became a national program in New Zealand, and expanded rapidly in the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia. The extensive data which has been collected and analyzed shows that Reading Recovery has been highly effective in reversing the failure cycle of first-grade students in a relatively short time.

In the United States, Reading Recovery was first implemented at The Ohio State University in 1984. Since 1984, almost 1.3 million students have been served nation-wide. In Maine, Reading Recovery has grown rapidly since the University of Maine trained the first group of teacher leaders in 1991-1992. Since then, Reading Recovery teachers have served almost 21,000 first graders in over 275 schools.

The University of Maine serves as the Reading Recovery University Training Center for Maine. The University Trainer provides initial and ongoing training for teacher leaders who train teachers in their local areas. The State Program Evaluator provides support to Reading Recovery professionals and schools through an annual program evaluation study. In 2002-2003, there were 12 teacher training sites in Maine serving 213 schools in 101 school districts. Thirteen teacher leaders provided initial or ongoing training to 308 teachers who served 2,457 students.

Reading Recovery analyzes data on all students served. There are five outcomes: Discontinued successfully upon meeting or exceeding average grade level expectations, Recommended for further assessment after receiving a full 20-week program, Moved before completing the lessons, Incomplete series of lessons usually because the school year ends and None of the above (NOA), a rarely used category (e.g. a student is placed back in kindergarten).

Of all students served, 58% met the stringent criteria for discontinued service within 20 weeks and 22% were recommended for further support. At the end of the school year, 14% were still in Reading Recovery with insufficient time to complete their programs (Figure 1).

The effects of Reading Recovery can best be measured with data from children who had a full series of lessons, in other words, from those who received the complete treatment. 73% of these children were successfully discontinued and 27% were recommended (Figure 2).

The format and content of this report was adapted from similar reports by the University of Maine, The Ohio State University and Texas Woman's University.

As part of the 2002-03 national evaluation study, Reading Recovery students were compared with 425 Random Sample (RS) students. Reading Recovery students made higher gains than RS students (the upper 2/3's of the achievement band) (Figure 3).

As shown above, discontinued RR students began the school year with a mean text reading level of only 1.30, which is below Stanine 5, the average achievement goal. By year-end, they had reached text level 19.3, which is within Maine Stanine 5, an accelerated gain of 18 text reading levels. In contrast, the RS group started out at 4.3, which is above Stanine 5, and finished at 20.4. In sum, Reading Recovery students made accelerated gains in text reading level which narrowed the performance gap with their high-achieving RS peers.

In addition, there was a dramatic change in reading group placements for Reading Recovery students from fall to year-end. In the fall, 73% of Reading Recovery children were in the lowest quartile group. By year-end, however, only 4% were in the lowest reading group, compared to 9% of the RS group. By year-end, 96% of discontinued Reading Recovery children were on grade level, that is, within or above the Maine text reading stanine criterion band, compared to 91% of Random Sample children.

Finally, the data on lunch costs shows that Reading Recovery greatly improved the reading abilities of students with free lunch (the most economically disadvantaged students). Compared to a mean text reading level of 1.3 in the fall, discontinued free lunch students finished the school year at 19.3, a gain of 18 text reading levels. In sum, the Reading Recovery program resulted in substantial gains in literacy for economically disadvantaged children.

Although Reading Recovery students were the lowest readers when they entered Grade 1, only 15% of students who received a full Reading Recovery program were referred for special education. Only 3% were placed in LD programs for reading. In addition, only 4% of students with a full Reading Recovery program were retained, and most for reasons other than literacy.

In 2002-2003, the University of Maine surveyed parents, teachers and administrators about the Reading Recovery program. The consistently high survey means, with high response rates from 66% to 80%, show that the Reading Recovery program has overwhelming support from parents, teachers and administrators across the State of Maine. Reading Recovery is perceived by all these groups as an excellent program which provides at-risk Grade 1 children with a solid foundation in early literacy. There were almost no negative comments about the program. The most common concerns were the possibility of future budget cuts and the future development of children who needed Reading Recovery services but were unable to receive them.

The outcomes of any educational program need to be considered within the context of the implementation decisions made by school districts. Implementation variables related to the success of Reading Recovery include: the level of coverage within schools and districts, protected time for teaching sessions, high-quality teacher training, and support by administrators and classroom teachers.

Reading Recovery is a scientifically-based program with evidence-based success in improving the reading performance of Maine first graders. There is a remarkable convergence in the 2002-03 findings both within and across methods (six quantitative measures and qualitative findings from administrators, parents and teachers) which shows that Reading Recovery is a highly effective program with a broad impact. With the generous support of Maine legislators, Reading Recovery continues to set the standard for early literacy intervention. By providing an excellent teaching intervention for Maine first graders at risk of failing to learn to read and write, Reading Recovery has been highly successful in closing the achievement gap in literacy.

©This is an official publication of the University of Maine
~ A Member of the University of Maine System ~
If you have questions about this website, please contact the Webmaster. - Updated: 10/19/06