Issues in Brief

One-to-One Instruction
In these times of tight funding and increased demand for academic results, educators increasingly turn to research to discover best practices for student achievement. A continuing question in the field of beginning reading is whether small-group instruction can be as effective as one-to-one in preventing reading failure. This paper reviews research on this question and focuses specifically on Reading Recovery, a beginning reading intervention that relies exclusively on individualized one-to-one instruction for success. Scientific evidence indicates that individualized instruction is more effective than small-group instruction.

Response to Intervention (RTI)
Reading Recovery can play an important role in a school’s implementation of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, IDEA). It is a compelling option for schools that are designing response to intervention (RTI) models to meet the needs of struggling readers and writers.

Early Literacy Intervention: Expanding Expertise and Impact is a Reading Recovery initiative in partnership with the U.S Department of Education. Link to free online RTI resources including a video, on-demand webcast, a study of administrator experiences, and examples of 18 school implementation plans.

English Language Learners
Reading Recovery serves approximately 16,000 English language learners (ELLs) in the United States each year, about 15% of all Reading Recovery students. An investment in both Descubriendo la Lectura (the Spanish reconstruction of Reading Recovery) and Reading Recovery ensures commitment to all children, including those who enter school speaking a language other than English.

Closing the Gap
With the growing diversity in America’s population, the achievement gap among various groups of children is gaining national attention. Reading Recovery reduces and in some cases closes the achievement gap between low and average achievers, English language learners (ELLs) and native English speakers, lower- and higher-family income, and various racial and ethnic groups.