West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District

Kindergarten - Grade 3

What is Reading Recovery?

• Reading Recovery is a research, short-term intervention of one-to-one teaching for the lowest-achieving first graders.

• In Reading Recovery, students receive 30-minute lessons each school day for 12 to 20 weeks from a specially trained teacher.

• As soon as students can read and write at grade level and demonstrate that they can continue to achieve, their lessons are discontinued and new students receive individual instruction.

• Reading Recovery had been reconstructed in Spanish as Descubriendo la Lectura.  It has also been reconstructed in French.

What can Reading Recovery do for my child?

• A key premise of Reading Recovery is that early intervention in first grade is critical.  Research shows that children who fall behind in Grade 1 tend to remain below grade level in later school years.

• Early intervention is important because the gap between the lowest- and highest- performing children is narrow in lower grades but widens later in elementary school.

• Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness as Reading Recovery for children with reading difficulties.

• Since 1984 when Reading Recovery began in the United States, about 8of 10 students with a full series of lessons met the criteria for successful first-grade reading and writing.

• Although all children progress during their Reading Recovery lesson, a few do not make the accelerated progress needed to succeed without extra help.  These children may be recommended for additional evaluation.