Reading Recovery News Archives for  2006

JANUARY 2006

Training Brings Teacher Full Circle
Together, the Monroe2-Orleans BOCES Staff and Retirees Newsletter
50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue
By Deb Moyer
January/February 2006

After being a teacher for 15 years, Judy Pray thought she had seen it all, but then she met a first-grader with reading difficulties the two of them couldn’t overcome. Then, Judy was given the opportunity to receive Reading Recovery training through the BOCES 2 Office of Curriculum and Professional Development. That was about 9 years ago.

Education Aid Right Under Our Noses
The Boston Globe - Boston, MA
January 31, 2006

David J. Moriarty, retired director of K-12 language arts for Medford Public Schools, pointed out in a letter to the editor that if elected officials are looking for a solution to the achievement gap for minorities, they should look to Reading Recovery, which has been supported in the state budget for more than 10 years. Recent research out of Lesley University shows that Reading Recovery is one of the few programs (and it's nonprofit) that is closing the achievement gap nationally.

Study: Literacy Program Has Lasting Impact on Indiana Students
Purdue University College of Education
Purdue News Service
By Kim Medaris
January 25, 2006

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A research-based method for boosting literacy among early elementary school students helps Indiana children meet — and even exceed — average reading levels years later, according to a recent study. Maribeth C. Schmitt of Purdue University's College of Education conducted a study surveying 548 children in 253 Indiana schools that had Reading Recovery programs in place for at least two years. The purpose of the study was to assess the long-term impact of the program. Schmitt worked on the research with Anne E. Gregory, an assistant professor of education at Boise State University and former Purdue doctoral student.  The study has been published in the current edition of Literacy Teaching and Learning: An International Journal of Early Reading and Writing.

Read more about this and other research on continued progress of Reading Recovery students.

Program Targets Reading, Writing
Port Huron Times Herald - Port Huron, MI
By Shannon Murphy
January 20, 2006

DECKERVILLE – Deckerville Elementary Schools' kindergarten students are benefiting from a new program the school has developed to teach younger children to read and write. The elementary school program began this fall with the school's Reading Recovery teacher spending an hour a day with each of the three kindergarten classes. The school also has the Reading Recovery teacher working with first-graders to try and improve the school's standardized test scores. The school, which has 384 students, is considered an at-risk school, Principal Dick Walker said. Because of declining enrollment, the reading teacher had free time, which Walker decided would be best spent with kindergartners as a literacy coach. There is no extra cost to the district for the program, he said.

Budget Shortfall Threatens School, Reading Recovery Program
Pioneer Press - St. Paul, MN
By Megan Boldt
January 11, 2006

St. Paul -- Faced with a budget shortfall of up to $5 million, the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district could close Webster Elementary next school year as part of its budget-balancing plan. Declining enrollment is part of the problem. The district has shrunk by 656 students in kindergarten through fifth grade since 2001. Superintendent Patty Phillips said closing the school would save about $300,000. The preliminary plan also includes eliminating at least 40 full-time teaching positions – saving about $2.2 million -- and switching to all-day, every-other-day kindergarten. Other reductions in the draft plan include a plan to save $377,000 by eliminating the Reading Recovery program, which helps younger elementary students who struggle with reading.

Diversity Theme of Today's Literacy Conference
Morning Sentinel - Portland, ME
By Colin Hickey
January 7, 2006

A day-long conference today at Kennebec Valley Community College will explore a wealth of data on reading, such as a study on Maine students who received Reading Recovery in the 2004-05 school year. Referring to the study, Teacher Leader Whendy Smith said that 71 percent of first-graders who received the full 20-week program were no longer considered at-risk students. The event is expected to attract 125 Reading Recovery and early literacy specialists from around the state. The conference is the first of two sponsored annually by the Center for Literacy at the University of Maine.

FEBRUARY 2006

Teacher's World Turned Upside Down
Sioux Falls Argus Leader - Sioux Falls, SD
By Jill Callison
February 26, 2006

Last summer, after a car accident that left Reading Recovery teacher Connie McMacken with bumps and bruises, a laceration on top of her head, nine cracked ribs and, most devastating, a shattered 12th vertebrae, McMacken began telling herself what she'd been telling her students for years.
“Don’t say, ‘I can’t,’ ” the teacher would encourage her students in a loving tone. “Say, ‘I will try.’ ”
And now, seated in a wheelchair or walking carefully with the aid of a walker, McMacken has continued transmitting that attitude to pupils at Laura B. Anderson Elementary School.

Educator to Receive State Award
ESU News and Events
Emporia State University News Service - Emporia, KS
February, 2006

A local educator will receive an award for his life in service of Kansas children.
Dr. Leo Pauls, current president of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, is receiving the Kansas Teacher Leader Recognition Award from the state’s Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders during the eighth annual Kansas Regional Reading Recovery Conference held at Emporia State University on Monday, February 27.

“It is fitting that Leo receive this award,” said Dr. Connie Briggs, University Trainer and Director of ESU’s Reading Recovery Program. “Dr. Pauls was instrumental in finding resources to train a Reading Recovery trainer for Kansas which led to the establishing ESU as the 23rd Reading Recovery Training Center in the United States. His persistence and dedication to Reading Recovery has made it possible for thousands of struggling first grade students in Kansas to learn to read.”

RE-1 Reading Program Gets Boost from Grant Money
Journal-Advocate - Sterling, CO
By Jennifer Klein
February 13, 2006

STERLING - The RE-1 Valley school district recently received a grant to create a reading recovery program in Sterling, said RE-1 Valley Assistant Superintendent Ron Marostica at a news conference Wednesday. A $488,207 grant will be given to RE-1 over the next three years from the Morgridge Family Foundation exclusively for reading recovery. The grant will fund the program and reading recovery teachers. Those teachers will work individually with the pupils in the bottom 25 percent of the class until they are able to read at their average class level.

More Than 660,000 Children Benefiting From Historic Investment in Education
PR Newswire (press release), New York, NY
February 1, 2006

HARRISBURG, PA /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell said today his $200 million investment in proven educational programs is helping more than 660,000 children improve academically this year. Some highlights of the 2005-06 Accountability Block Grant Mid-Year report include the Allentown City School District (Lehigh County) renewal of its commitment to programs focusing on ESL, special education and economically disadvantaged students based on great success from 2004-05. Sixty-three percent of Reading Recovery students now read on grade level while the ESL population achieved AYP in reading and math last year. For more information about the Accountability Block Grant programs, or for copies of the report and additional information about the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
 

MARCH 2006

Evidence-Based Reform: Advancing the Education of Students at Risk
Center For American Progress - Washington, D.C.
Executive Summary
by Robert E. Slavin
Johns Hopkins University
March, 2006

Read full report in PDF (no longer available)
This paper argues that genuine reform in American education depends on a movement toward evidence-based practice, using the findings of rigorous research to guide educational practices and policies. No Child Left Behind gives a rhetorical boost to this concept, exhorting educators to use programs and practices “based on scientifically-based research.” In practice, however, programs that particularly emphasize research-based practice, such as Reading First, have instead supported programs and practices (such as traditional basal reading textbooks) that have never been evaluated, while ignoring well-evaluated programs.
This paper reviews research on programs that already have strong evidence of effectiveness, and mentions that Tutoring programs in reading, especially Reading Recovery, have rigorous evaluations showing their effectiveness. Clearly, much more research is needed, and current policies are not supporting use of the research-based programs that now exist.

Bloomfield Hires New Kindergarten Teacher
Linton Daily Citizen – Linton IN
By Timberly Ferree
March 31, 2006

LINTON -- The Bloomfield School District School Board hired a new kindergarten teacher Thursday night to replace Carolyn Williams, who will retire at the end of this year. Shannon Dean, a current half-time teacher and Title 1 teacher at Bloomfield Elementary School, was highly recommended by elementary Principal Mary Jane Vandeventer. Board President Steve Dowden read the recommendation that stated, “Mrs. Dean is a highly qualified teacher licensed for kindergarten and general elementary. As a Reading Recovery specialist she understands the best practices in teaching students to read.”

EdWeek Chat: The Problem With Boys
www.edweek.org (free registration will give limited access)
Chat transcript published online March 29, 2006

On March 15, 2006, the on-line live chat discussion topic was “The Problem with Boys,” and readers addressed their questions to Thomas Newkirk, a University of New Hampshire professor and author of Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture. Professor Newkirk noted that in order for boys to succeed in school, it is important to no longer hold the view that boys are just not good at the literacy activities that are central to schooling. Newkirk says that boys who experience early difficulty with reading need to be presented with material that they can read successfully, material that builds on their interests. “They also need strategies for dealing with difficulty, such as those taught in Reading Recovery,” Professor Newkirk said.

World Bank Team Visits Nevis on Evaluation Mission
Sun St.Kitts/Nevis - St. Kitts and Nevis
March 8, 2006

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – A two-member World Bank mission visited Nevis last Friday to assess the state of progress of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Education Reform Project. The World Bank has provided assistance to the Nevis Island Administration in support of quality education on Nevis.  The mission visited, among other places, the Reading Recovery Centre at Marion Heights, which is expected to be in full operation shortly. The centre will facilitate the training of teachers on how to recognize reading difficulties and how to best work with students on a one on one basis, if needed, to correct reading difficulties.

APRIL 2006

Trustcott Reading Program Awarded
The Daily Reporter-Herald - Loveland, CO
By Felicia Jordan
April 30, 2006

Ellen Klug, who teaches Reading Recovery at Truscott Elementary School, has seen the program change the lives of struggling students. About half of the first-graders who enroll in the program because they have trouble reading catch up to their peers within 20 weeks, she said. Before Klug began teaching Reading Recovery, she said she rarely saw struggling students catch up to the rest of the class so fast.
“Not only do they catch up, they stay caught up,” she said.

Truscott, which has offered Reading Recovery for eight years, recently received an award from the Denver Foundation for the program, said Principal Tom Altepeter. The Morgridge Reading Recovery Award for Excellence honors schools that create outstanding programs, Altepeter said. The award included a $2,500 grant for the school, he said.
 

Mt. Laurel Teacher One of Five Finalists for Alabama Teacher of the Year
Shelby County Board of Education - Shelby County, AL
Press Release
April 25, 2006

CHELSEA - Angela Walker, a third grade teacher at Mt Laurel Elementary School, has been named one of the top five finalists for 2006-2007 Alabama Teacher of the Year. The State Department of Education will announce the winner and honor all the district finalists at a reception in Montgomery on May 10.
Ms. Walker was named the Shelby County Elementary Teacher of the Year in December. In March, she was selected as one of the top 16 finalists for the state Teacher of the Year honor.

Ms. Walker has 15 years experience in the teaching profession, with eight of those years spent in Shelby County. Prior to joining Mt Laurel’s staff this year, she worked for six years at Vincent Elementary School as a third grade and Reading Recovery teacher and reading interventionist.
 

Educators: Reading's Building Blocks Needed Long Before School Starts
Portage Daily Register - Portage, WI
By Ann Marie Ames
April 24, 2006

Grab a book and take a look. Before you know it, your kids will be hooked. Rhyming games, reading aloud, and other strategies for helping children read were discussed by teachers at Woodridge Elementary at the school's fourth annual "Sweet Dreams" reading night this week.

Donna MacLeish, a Reading Recovery teacher and reading specialist at Woodridge Elementary School, says that one of the first signs of a good future reader is a young child's ability to hear rhymes.
 

Pope John Paul II High School Student Collects Books for Village Academy Children
Boca Raton News - Boca Raton, FL
By Nicol Jenkins
April 23, 2006

It's not too often that a student can help a former teacher. But 17-year old Steven Miller is the exception to that rule—He’s now collecting books for his former first-grade teacher Tracy Kelley.

Kelley will in turn give those books to her Reading Recovery class at Village Academy in Delray Beach. There, the students will use the books in the student-run bookstore.
 

School Board Sets Tentative Budget Cuts
Granite Falls Advocate Tribune - Granite Falls, MN
By Sarah Elmquist
April 17, 2006

The Yellow Medicine East Schools Board of Education set some tentative budget cuts at their meeting Monday night, as part of a busy evening. They also discussed the addition of certain other items, including the literacy coach and Reading Recovery positions. Principal Stacy Hinz explained that these positions actually help split up class sizes, and if they were cut, they would need to be replaced with teaching positions anyway. Board member Kathy Busack spoke up, as a parent of a student influenced by the literacy program. She said that the work by Reading Recovery teacher Peggy Kvam has been fantastic. “She's worth every penny,” she said.
 

Springville School Improves Literacy
Daily Herald - Provo, UT
By Anna Chang-Yen
April 15, 2006

In 1999, Westside Elementary School in Springville sat at the bottom of the list of district test scores. Today, the school scores above district averages and has an award-winning reading program. CaraLee Boyer said her son Derek, a fifth-grader, discovered his love of reading at Westside. "In first grade, he just was not getting it. We would read to him and have him read, and it just wasn't connecting." He was taken into the school's Reading Recovery program, and after getting a lot of one-on-one instruction, he now keeps up with the goings-on of Harry Potter and is up to date on "The Chronicles of Narnia."

"He reads every night," Boyer said. "Once he went through the Reading Recovery, it just connected, and I feel bad that it's not in every school. I wish more kids could get that one-on-one time, because it helped him a lot."

The school will be recognized for its reading success by the Utah Council and the International Reading Association on April 30 at IRA's 51st annual convention in Chicago.
 

Board Applauds Staff, Students on MEAP
The Jackson Citizen-Patriot - Jackson, MI
By Ingrid Jacques
April 14, 2006

Western School District third- through eighth-grade students scored better on the fall Michigan Educational Assessment Program test than the state averages in 25 of 26 subject areas. Reading scores were strong at every grade level. Goodrich said it's the result of the district's successful Reading Recovery program and the emphasis the staff is placing on reading. Strong reading skills are the most critical foundation a district can establish, he said.
 

Kraft Named Reading Teacher of the Year
The Capital Journal - Pierre, SD
By Rebecca Cruse
April 11, 2006

PIERRE -- Kathy Kraft, a Reading Recovery teacher at McKinley Elementary School and a language arts teacher at Washington Elementary School, recently received the South Dakota Reading Council’s Reading Teacher of the Year Award for her efforts in education.

Kraft works half-days as a Reading Recovery teacher and half-days as a language arts teacher. Also, as an active member of the South Dakota Reading Council, Kraft is involved with the coordination and implementation of several of its programs, including the Young Authors’ and Illustrators’ Contest, and Moms Making Memories. Moms Making Memories is a program for inmates in the women’s prison.

Kraft said, “It’s really nice to be honored, but a lot of other teachers work just as hard and deserve awards too.”
 

Rosewood Narrows Achievement Gap
Rock Hill Herald - Rock Hill, SC
By Karen Bair
April 11‚ 2006

ROSEWOOD -- Certain South Carolina elementary schools narrowed the achievement gap among demographic groups last year. In recognition of this accomplishment, these schools were honored on Monday by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee. Among the group so honored were Rosewood Elementary, Bethany Elementary, Griggs Road Elementary, and Crowders Creek Elementary/Middle Schools in Clover; and Riverview Elementary and Gold Hill Middle Schools in Fort Mill.

In Clover, Pam Cato, Griggs Road principal, says the success at her school and at Bethany can be linked to the Clover district's math and literacy programs that begin in preschool.

"When the kids get to first grade, we have Reading Recovery for kids who need help," she has said. "We can provide one-on-one help. By second grade, they have a strong foundation. We emphasize reading."
 

RANDY MCCOY: Our Commitment: Teach Reading in Tupelo
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - Tupelo, MS
By Randy McCoy, Superintendent of the Tupelo Public Schools
April 3, 2006

TUPELO -- The teaching of reading is the cornerstone of our educational process. Tupelo Public School District students who are identified as having difficulty in learning to read find many different levels of support available to them. In addition to a variety of programs that help students with language, word sounds, and spelling, our schools have two other programs that provide small group and individual instruction: (1) Reading Recovery provides specific, systematic instruction for children who struggle with beginning reading skills. Reading Recovery teachers receive rigorous training and are required to recertify annually, and (2) the Intensified Time program, designed to enrich reading and writing opportunities for high-achieving students.
 

Rapid City Literature Leader Gets State Award
Rapid City Journal - Rapid City SD
By Andrea J. Cook
April 3, 2006

RAPID CITY -- The South Dakota Reading Council recently saluted Liz Venenga's contributions to children's literacy with the South Dakota Literacy Award. Venenga is the K-5 literacy coordinator and teacher trainer for Rapid City Area Schools, supervising a staff of 65 people working in the district's elementary schools as first-grade Reading Recovery teachers and Classroom Buddy teachers.
 

Reading Gets Boost in Bentonville
Benton County Daily Record - Bentonville, AR
By Jamie Brunk
April 1, 2006

BENTONVILLE — Improving students’ reading ability highlighted discussion at Thursday’s meeting of the Bentonville School District’s Curriculum Committee. The school district already uses Reading Recovery. The committee examined data Thursday that shows Reading Recovery has been successful in their schools.

However, the data could not capture the personal impact described by board member Scott Packnett, whose son had struggled with reading until he went through the program. "Now he loves reading," Packnett said. "I believe we’re doing the right thing with this program."
 

MAY 2006

Awards Showcase Service-Learning
UVM News - Burlington, VT
By Jon C. Reidel
May 10, 2006

In the ceremony on April 26, Julie Graham, a Reading Recovery teacher and site supervisor for the UVM America Reads & Counts program at Chamberlin Elementary School, was given an Outstanding Service-Learning Community Partner award. A caring community mentor, Julie Graham was nominated for the community partner award by Jane Mekkelson, senior lecturer and director of UVM America Reads & Counts Program, for her volunteer work as was one of the original designers and implementers of the program, and for her continued work recruiting and training students to tutor elementary school children.
 

Midland Public Schools OKs Teacher Layoffs
Midland Daily News - Midland, MI
By Angela Lackey
May 9, 2006

Tina Brandalik and her family moved from Big Rapids last year, so that she could work as a Reading Recovery teacher and literacy coach at Chippewassee Elementary School. Now her job has been diminished and her future is uncertain. In some ways, Brandalik is atypical of those being laid off. She has 20 years of teaching experience, while most of the others are recent college graduates. She is working on her master’s degree, and only has two more classes to get her reading degree. Her literacy coach position is being eliminated because funding for the federal Title I position has been cut. Brandalik worked with students struggling in areas such as reading and math. She will now work only as a Reading Recovery teacher next year.
 

Tennessee Education Association Announces Annual Award Recipients
Tennessee Education Association news release
Contact: Kathy Wheeler kwheeler@tea.nea.org
May 5, 2006

Reading Recovery Teacher Leader Jill Speering, of Metropolitan Nashville, was among the teachers honored as 2005-06 Distinguished Classroom Teachers by the Tennessee Education Association. The Tennessee Book Company, a co-sponsor of the awards to distinguished educators since 1990, presented each honoree with a certificate and a $100 gift certificate. The honorees will be feted with dinner at the company’s parent headquarters in Nashville.
 

Midway Wins Literacy Award
Anderson Independent Mail - Anderson, SC
May 4, 2006

Midway Elementary is one of four elementary schools in the state to win the Literacy Spot Award for the 2005-06 school year. The S.C. Reading Recovery® Advisory Council sponsors annual awards that recognize schools and districts for outstanding literacy efforts. The Literacy Spot Award is presented to schools that show commitment to the Reading Recovery Program and emergent literacy instruction. Schools that are nominated must show evidence of ongoing professional development and must support best practices in early literacy instruction.
 

More Teachers Prepare for Reading Recovery Program
Richmond Register - Richmond, KY
By Joice Biazoto
May 4, 2006

RICHMOND — Thirty-seven elementary school teachers from multiple counties in the region were honored Wednesday at a graduation ceremony at the Arlington Country Club for completing a year-long training program to be one-on-one tutors in the Reading Recovery program. The class was funded by the “Read to Achieve” grant the school district received last year, which provides the county’s elementary schools $500,000 a year for three years to fully implement the Reading Recovery program. Madison County now has 24 fully trained teachers in the program, and will be able to work with 240 first-graders this year, a significant increase from last year’s 130 children, said Amy Smith, Reading Recovery teacher leader.
 

Local School District Looking to Cut 26 Staff
WLNS TV - Lansing, MI
Reported by Jeff Campbell
May 4, 2006

The Jackson public schools are facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit, and they're once again looking to reduce staff. Although parents have expressed concerns, school district officials insist staff cuts won't hurt the classroom. What could hurt, though, is the loss of a program called Reading Recovery. It's a program they currently have to cut, but a program they'd like to bring back. The program matches four first graders with a literacy teacher. It's worked and they want it to keep working.
 

Holly Academy Named Finalist for National Award
Tri-County Times - Fenton, MI
By Anna Troppens
May 2, 2006

Holly Academy is one of three finalists nation-wide in their category of the Intel and Scholastic “Schools of Distinction” Awards. If they win their category in October, they will receive a $10,000 grant honoring their Literary Achievement at an Elementary School. And if they are named “Best of the Best,” they will receive an additional $15,000 for a total prize of $25,000. Holly Academy has many ways it emphasizes literary achievement. One is the Reading Recovery program, which is in its third year at the academy.


JUNE 2006

Elementary School Gets Reading Grant
Richmond Register - Richmond, KY
By Bryan Marshall
June 27, 2006

Glenn R. Marshall Elementary, which opens its doors in August, will receive a $70,000 Read to Achieve grant as start-up funding to implement research-based reading programs. It will be one of 100 Kentucky schools to receive funding to help improve its students’ reading achievement.

Amy Smith, Reading Recovery teacher leader for the district, said, “This grant will allow us to offer Reading Recovery and small-group literacy intervention for second and third grade as well. That is available already through Read to Achieve and Title 1 funds at all other nine elementary schools.”

Over the past three years, about 400 children have “graduated” from the program, with more than 70 percent of those students able to go back into the classroom with no further need for assistance.

“The district has been very committed to Reading Recovery,” Smith said. “They’ve put every penny and dollar they could into it. The grants alone certainly do not fund all of it.”
 

Anonymous Donor Funds Teachers’ Graduate Studies
Benton County Daily Record - Bentonville, AR
By Tonya McKiever
June 16, 2006

Two Bentonville teachers said they were "overwhelmed" by an anonymous donor’s gift. The benefactor awarded Pamela Vandevoir and Jennifer Little each a $3,000 scholarship to attend graduate school at Harding University, Bentonville.

Both educators are scheduled to begin the upcoming school year at Centerton Gamble Elementary School, one of the Bentonville School District’s new buildings scheduled to open for the 2006-07 school year. Vandevoir will work as a reading recovery teacher, and Little will serve as assistant principal.


SISD Reading Recovery Celebration
North Texas e-News - Texas,USA
SISD weekly news
By SISD media release
June 9, 2006

A Reading Recovery Training Class graduation celebration was held at the Finley Cultural Center in honor of nine teachers who recently completed Reading Recovery graduate level coursework from Texas Woman's University. Their names and a group photo appears along with this article. These teachers join the ranks of approximately thirty other teachers trained in north Texas. This is SISD's seventh year to host a training class.

New Readers to Have Their Day
York Daily Record - York, PA
By Lori Badders
June 1, 2006

YORK — When Beth Kitzmiller’s son, Benjamin, entered first grade last fall at Locust Grove Elementary, he struggled in reading. Reading tests conducted at school showed that Ben qualified for Reading Recovery, a short-term intervention program that features one-on-one tutoring for first graders.

"Practically from the moment Ben started to work with (reading specialist) Colleen Hoover on a daily basis, his whole attitude changed," Kitzmiller said.

Benjamin is one of 84 first-graders in the Red Lion Area School District's eight elementary schools who benefited from the program during the 2005-06 school year. A celebration to recognize their achievement is scheduled for Monday.

JULY 2006

'Best Practices' Distilled From Studies of More Than 250 Schools
Education Week
By Debra Viadero
July 14, 2006

A national nonprofit group released a report today that distills the "best practices" used by elementary and secondary schools in 20 states that have proven track records of success.

Researchers at the National Center for Educational Accountability at the University of Texas in Austin based their findings on studies over the last six years of more than 250 schools across the country. The researchers singled out 140 schools that consistently outperformed demographically similar schools for at least three consecutive years and across several grades, on state exams.

Reading Recovery is mentioned favorably in the Michigan Institute report and in the Maryland and New Mexico reports.
 

AUGUST 2006

Reading Recovery Holds First Statewide Conference for Kentucky Teachers
University of Kentucky College of Education - Lexington, KY

Stories also appeared in:
The Kentucky Standard, Bardstown, KY
8-11-06
The Tompkinsville News, Tompkinsville, KY
8-17-06

More than 300 Reading Recovery teachers attended the first statewide conference in Lexington, Kentucky on July 18th and 19th in downtown Lexington, presented by the Reading Recovery University Training Center at the University of Kentucky. Teachers from Paducah to Pikeville came to learn new applications and procedures in this literacy intervention program that is saving Kentucky’s children from being mere statistics.

Kentucky Education Cabinet Secretary Virginia Fox and Senator Dan Kelly spoke to the teachers, and Senator Kelly received Kentucky’s Inaugural Literacy Leadership Award for bringing this literacy intervention to children struggling with reading across the state.

The Literacy Cornerstone Award was presented to Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) for 18 years of Reading Recovery implementation, and Brandon Fuller, a former Reading Recovery students and a 2006 graduate of Franklin County High School received a Kentucky Rising Star award.
 

SEPTEMBER 2006

Young Reader Honored for Her Art Work
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City, IA
By Jenny Welp
September 18, 2006

Not many kids can say that a picture they drew in first grade has been printed on bags and is being sold nationwide on notecards. But that's what happened to Brooke Bailey, a second-grader at Smith Elementary School in Sioux City.

Last year Brooke was asked to draw a picture that showed what the Reading Recovery program meant to her. She drew an outdoor scene with a tree, grass, flowers and sunshine, and in the center of the picture, she's sitting with her mom and grandma on a bench.

"Reading Recovery is so much fun," Brooke wrote on the picture. "I learned how to read big kid books to my family every night."

Brooke's picture was entered into a national contest and selected as one of a dozen pictures featured on notecards that will be sold by the Reading Recovery Council of North America, a nonprofit association for Reading Recovery teachers that does professional development, communications and advocacy work. Those notecards will soon be available online at www.readingrecovery.org.
 

LBUSD TV Program to Help Readers
Long Beach Press-Telegram - Long Beach, CA
By Kevin Butler
September 8, 2006

LONG BEACH - Tela Rogers, a 7-year-old in the Long Beach Unified School District, was among several LBUSD students featured in an educational television program about efforts to bring lagging readers up-to-speed. The program, entitled "The Right to Read," is part of the Connect with Kids education series and was produced by CWK Network, Inc., with support from Verizon.

The episode, which aired Sunday, September 10 at 4 p.m. on ABC7, spotlights two literacy programs that LBUSD officials say have been successful in getting struggling kids caught up in reading.

One of the two programs was Reading Recovery. Last year 294 first-graders in the LBUSD participated in the program, said Jill Isbell Rhodes, one of the teachers in charge of Reading Recovery. The literacy program worked for Rogers, who was at the bottom of her class, Rhodes said.

The 20-week program is "highly successful, and it's been replicated over and over and over again in many districts of varying degrees of diversity," Rhodes said.

OCTOBER 2006

Principal Receives National Literacy Award
Sheboygan Press - Sheboygan, WI
October 29, 2006

Washington Elementary School principal Wayne Blessing recently earned the Partnership in Comprehensive Literacy Award.

Blessing received the award at the Arkansas Reading Recovery & Comprehensive Literacy K-8 Conference in Little Rock, Ark., earlier this month. The award acknowledges a school and its leadership for contributions to the Partnership in Comprehensive Literacy model, which is dedicated to increasing student achievement.

The award is based on three criteria. First, the school embodies a professional learning community with opportunities for teachers to learn together. Second, the school-wide commitment to literacy has resulted in increased student achievement among all subgroups. Third, the staff has opened its doors to share knowledge and experiences with others.

Washington School is in its third year of implementation of the partnership model.
 

NOVEMBER 2006

Extra! November 16
Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO
November 16, 2006

$1.6 million: The largest single donation ever to Mile High United Way, announced Tuesday by the Morgridge Family Foundation. The money will be used for Reading Recovery programs in school districts in Denver, Cherry Creek, Loveland, Mesa County, Sterling and Douglas County. John and Carrie Morgridge of Denver are challenging the community to match the amount for use in the United Way's School Readiness Initiative.
 

Glacier Ridge Elementary gets observation room
(Not available on line)
The Dublin News – Dublin, OH
By Lindsay Todd
November 15, 2006

The Reading Recovery room, where teachers and students can be viewed and evaluated through a two-way mirror by other teachers in a soundproof room, was officially introduced at Glacier Ridge Elementary School at a reception celebrating 20 years of Reading Recovery in Dublin Monday afternoon.

The purpose of the glass, according to Jill Reinhart, the district coordinator of learning and teaching, is so that the teachers can discuss the child’s progress while the lesson continues without interruption.

“The glass is an opportunity to keep everyone’s knowledge at work,” she said. “We don’t want to interfere with what a child is doing. If we wait until later to discuss the lesson, the conversation wouldn’t be as rich.”
 

A way all children can be readers
BBC News, London, England
By Mike Baker
November 11, 2006

London, England – Imagine if virtually no child left primary school unable to read. This week there was new evidence of the effectiveness of a scheme that could do just that.

A year-long pilot project has shown that 80% of vulnerable 6 year olds can be brought up to the expected reading level for their age in a matter of weeks with intensive, professional one-to-one tuition. The scheme is called Reading Recovery. It is not an alternative to the general teaching methods for whole classes but is, instead, a highly structured intervention strategy for rescuing children who are struggling to take even the first steps towards reading.

For the last 10 years there has been no shortage of research evidence showing its effectiveness. Yet, instead of spreading, Reading Recovery has been in retreat in the UK ever since the last Conservative government decided to pull the plug on its funding way back in 1995. So how did this happen? Read full article, BBC News 11-11-06.
 

Purdue trustees honor Maribeth Schmitt with designated professorship
Purdue University News, West Lafayette, IN
November 10, 2006

West Lafayette, Ind. – Maribeth C. Schmitt, clinical professor of literacy and language education at Purdue University, was named to an endowed chair in the College of Education. She will serve as the Jean Adamson Stanley Professor of Literacy. At the Board of Trustees meeting, Purdue provost Sally Mason said that designated professorships honor individuals whose academic achievements have been internationally recognized or who have made a unique contribution to the university through scholarship, research, teaching, or leadership functions.

Dr. Schmitt is also director of the Purdue Literacy Network Project, a center that provides professional development for teachers to use innovative techniques and conducts research on instructional practices. The project includes Reading Recovery, an early literacy intervention that trains teachers to work with struggling first-graders.

Dr. Schmitt was honored by the Indiana General Assembly in 2003 for her contributions to literacy learning and her instructional leadership in Indiana. In her efforts to make Reading Recovery accessible to all children who need it, she spearheaded an initiative that has resulted in nearly $14.5 million in legislative funding for Reading Recovery teacher training in Indiana. Dr. Schmitt is a past president of the Reading Recovery Council of North America and former editor of the Council’s scholarly journal. She is the lead author of Changing Futures: The Influence of Reading Recovery in the United States, a book recently published by the Council.
 

Close help ‘boosts slow readers’
BBC News, London, England
November 6, 2006

A study of around 500 six-year-olds suggested those in Reading Recovery caught up with peers in 20 weeks – four times faster than the normal rate of progress.

The study, from London’s Institute of Education, followed 234 of the lowest-achieving children in 42 schools in London. The study compared the progress of 87 children taught through the Reading Recovery with 147 children with similar reading difficulties who had not. Students in Reading Recovery gained 20 months reading ability in four or five months of tutoring, but those without the specialist improved by only seven months and had fallen further behind their peers.

Dr. Sue Burroughs-Lange, leader of the research team said the progress was “startling”. Director of the program, Jean Gross, said that more than 75% of pupils who had been behind were now achieving average literacy levels thanks to Reading Recovery.
 

City Boosts Literacy
The Hillsdale Independent - Hillsdale, NY
By Deborah Gaylord
November 3, 2006

Rensselaer—On a visit to Van Rensselaer Elementary School Thursday, October 26, Senator Joe Bruno (R-43rd) sat down with first-grader Destiny Lippett to listen to her read a book about Halloween. Destiny read in a clear voice to a crowd of her peers, administrators and the press. Listening to her read, one would not suspect that a few years ago this small city elementary school needed help in literacy education.

A few years ago, Principal Sally Ann Shields decided to take action and apply for a Literacy Initiative Grant from the Charitable Leadership Foundation. After determining what the school needed and writing a five-year plan to improve literacy, she was rewarded with a grant for $650,000 in 2003. Three years later, results from New York State assessments in English language arts reflect great success for Van Rensselaer students, who scored higher than in the past. Another indicator of positive change is the district's special education numbers, which have dropped from 26% in 2005-06 to 15% in 2006-07. Mrs. Shields is the first to point out it is the dedication of her staff that has made success possible.

Mrs. Shields said her goal for the future at Van Rensselaer is to continue a balanced approach to literacy with a focus on a Reading Recovery program for students who need one-on-one attention.
 

DECEMBER 2006

"Kids Who Read, But Don't Understand" - Connect With Kids
December 12, 2006

How do you develop a good reader? Some parents and teachers believe by pushing kids to read more, and to read books above their reading level…But many experts say that’s a mistake.

This TV news story features Jill Isbell Rhodes, a Reading Recovery teacher with the Long Beach Unified School District.
 

DOE teachers of the year share reward with school
Hudson Reporter - Hoboken, NJ
By Jessica Rosero
December 17, 2006

Gail Blake was one of two Hudson School teachers named Title I "Teachers of the Year" by the New Jersey Department of Education. She and the other teacher, Carol Kelly received $1,500 each, which they donated to fund a school trip for their students to see the movie version of "Charlotte's Web."

"It's a shared award, and everybody helped us win [the title] so it kind of goes full circle," said Kelly. "We felt that this was something we all could enjoy."

Gail Blake has been teaching pre-kindergarteners to first graders at Hudson School for 29 years. She is also a trained reading recovery teacher, and was recently reassigned as a Master Teacher to the Early Childhood Center.

As a trained reading recovery teacher, Blake implemented certain practices and programs, which focused around the five components of reading that are phonetics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and mechanics of the words.