Reading Recovery® in Maine 2003-2004 Executive Summary

Reading Recovery is a scientifically-based, short-term, early literacy intervention for first grade students who are having difficulty learning to read. Reading Recovery meets the five essential elements of reading identified by the National Reading Panel, and its tutorial method adds a sixth element: processing. 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. Since then, the program has expanded across the globe to the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Bermuda and schools serving military children in foreign countries. With an international reputation, Reading Recovery is also delivered in Spanish (USA), French (Quebec) and Danish (Denmark). The extensive scientific data from these countries show that Reading Recovery is 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, over 1.4 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 23,400 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 2003-2004, there were 12 teacher training sites in Maine serving 206 schools in 96 school districts. Thirteen teacher leaders provided initial or ongoing training to 297 teachers who served almost 2,400 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, 55% met the stringent criteria for discontinued service within 20 weeks and 23% were recommended for further support. At the end of the school year, 15% 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. 71% of these children were successfully discontinued and 29% were recommended (Figure 2).

As part of the 2003-2004 national evaluation study, Reading Recovery students were compared with 401 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 1.40, which is below Stanine 5, the average achievement goal. By year-end, they had reached text level 19.4, which is within Stanine 5, an accelerated gain of 18 text reading levels. In contrast, the RS group started out at 4.4, which is above Stanine 5, and finished at 20.8. 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, 76% of Reading Recovery children were in the lowest quartile group. By year-end, however, only 5% were in the lowest reading group. By year-end, 96% of discontinued Reading Recovery children were on grade level, that is, within or above the national text reading stanine criterion band.

Of the 1,700 students for whom these data are available, 48% had free or reduced 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, Reading Recovery resulted in substantial literacy gains for economically disadvantaged children.

Although Reading Recovery students were the lowest readers in Grade 1, only 18% of those who received a full Reading Recovery program were referred for special education. Only 3% were placed in LD (Learning Disabled) programs for reading including only 4% of students who were retained, most for reasons other than literacy.

How do Reading Recovery Students Perform on the Maine Educational Assessment?

In 2003-2004, a state-wide, longitudinal record linkage study of the performance of the 1998 Reading Recovery cohort on the 2001 Grade 4 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) was conducted. The discontinued children had a mean MEA Reading score of 534 (N=726), which was within the average state-wide achievement band of all Maine fourth graders (M = 539; N=14,285). In contrast, the mean MEA scores of referred children (M = 525) and of children with incomplete Reading Recovery programs (M= 528) were below the average state-wide achievement band. Only 10% of all discontinued children failed to meet MEA reading expectations, compared to 8% of all Maine children.

Similarly, the discontinued children had a mean MEA Writing score of 526 (N=715), which was within the average state-wide achievement band of all Maine fourth graders (M= 530; N=14,147). In contrast, the mean MEA scores of referred children (M = 520) and of children with incomplete Reading Recovery programs (M= 522) were below the average state-wide achievement band.

Reading Recovery is most effective when all at-risk children can access the program. With full implementation, Reading Recovery can successfully bring these children to the average classroom level and identify those who need long-term support through diagnostic assessment. The benefits include lowering the achievement gap in literacy and reducing the ongoing costs of long-term support for at-risk children.

Reading Recovery is a scientifically-based program with evidence-based success in improving the reading performance of Maine first graders. The outcomes from six quantitative Observation Survey measures converge with the Grade 4 Maine Educational Assessment results to show that Reading Recovery brings at-risk first-graders up to the average classroom level. With the generous support of Maine legislators, Reading Recovery continues to set the standard for early literacy intervention. By providing an early, short-term intervention for at risk first graders, the program has been highly successful in raising literacy achievement in Maine.

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.

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