Reading Recovery News Archives for 2007

JANUARY, 2007

Program helps poorest first-grade readers
Community Press - Florence, KY
By Danny Cross
January 28, 2007

Marcie Patrick began this school year with four students in her Reading Recovery program, a professional development system dedicated to helping the lowest 20 percent of a first-grade reading class catch up to class reading standards.

Her current students - two of which have completely caught up to class standards and two who have made considerable progress - will rejoin their normal classes and she'll take on four new students, Patrick said.

The program, which William Bick Primary instituted last year, is an intensive 20-week course for first graders which offers each student one-on-one teaching for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Patrick said the students who begin falling behind during first grade will only fall further behind without help.

"I think that this is just one more way that our school board is really trying to hit those students that are struggling," said Patrick. "We earned an excellent school rating last year and I think it's all of these endeavors that help."

PROFILE: 8 questions with Donna McGrady
thepaper24-7.com – Montgomery County, IN
By Denise Hinckley
January 27, 2007

Each day The Paper of Montgomery County profiles a person from our community...

A retired teacher and assistant superintendent, Donna McGrady stays busy on the Waynetown Town Council, she is the president of the board for both the Montgomery County Historical Society and the crisis shelter in Crawfordsville.

If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be and why?

….Marie Clay is a person I would like to meet. She started the 'Reading Recovery' program that we use in this country.

FEBRUARY 2007

Pupil’s Elective Classes at Risk
The Express Times - Easton, PA
By Kurt Bresswein
February 13, 2007

Bethlehem Area School District high school students who fall behind in reading may have to give up elective courses for a new remediation program proposed Monday….

Other reading remediation courses called Reading Recovery for first-graders and Read 180 for grades three and four and the middle schools have made notable progress in improving literacy, according to literacy coordinator Kathy Bast and K-5 Literacy Coordinator Joanne LoFaso.

Test looms over BASD
Allentown Morning Call - Allentown, PA
By Steve Esack
February 13, 2007

In other reading matters, literacy coordinator Joanne LoFaso said a first-grade reading refresher course, Reading Recovery, has had great results. She had stats too.

After the meeting, Villani said students come to the district without basic reading skills. Reading starts at home, he said.

''The parents are either plopping them down in front of the television or the parents work and cannot find the time,'' Villani said. ''It all comes down to how much instruction time they have at home with reading.
 

The quintessential teacher
Turlock Journal – Turlock, CA
By DENNIS WYATT
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Turlock paid tribute Saturday to Sandra Tovar Medeiros. Family, friends, and fellow educators gathered for the symbolic laying by the Masons of the cornerstone for Sandra Tovar Medeiros Elementary School.

Medeiros patiently devoted 15 years of her life at Wakefield Elementary laying the foundation necessary for hundreds of young minds to blossom. Medeiros was a kindergarten teacher and a Reading Recovery teacher.

Medeiros knew well why reading was essential and the foundation to learning and success in life. The daughter of field workers, Medeiros could not read English and spoke very little when she started school. Somewhere along the way she came across a teacher at an early age who helped her unlock that great mystery of reading. And in doing so, the floodgates were opened.

MARCH 2007

MV board commends students
Mount Vernon News - Mount Vernon, OH
By Pamela Schehl
March 6, 2007

MOUNT VERNON — Awards and commendations led off Monday’s meeting of the Mount Vernon Board of Education. The board first commended Columbia Elementary students Heather Tharp and Erica Wilcox for placing in the national Reading Recovery art contest. Heather was a regional winner, Erica one of 12 national winners. Her artwork is featured on note cards distributed by the national organization.

An awesome twosome: First-grader hones reading skills with help of principal 
Amherst Bulletin - Amherst, MA
By Bob Dunn
March 9, 2007

It's not every first-grader who asks to spend time in the principal's office. But that's what 6-year-old Alex Martinez did when he sent a note to Crocker Farm Principal Paul Wiley.

The note read, "Dear Mr. Wiley, can I read with you some day?" It listed two boxes labeled "yes" and "no."
Wiley checked "yes."

Alex is part of Crocker Farm's Reading Recovery program, which identifies students who may be at risk for falling behind classmates in their reading abilities.

"Some children don't have special needs, they just need special instruction," said Janine Kelly, who teaches Reading Recovery at Crocker Farm and works with Alex for 30 minutes each school day.

Reading Recovery Begins at RE-1 Elementary Schools 
Journal-Advocate - Sterling, CO
By Carol Barrett
March 10, 2007

STERLING — Being a capable reader makes school better for a child in so many ways. It raises self-esteem, opens doors to learning other subjects, and when reading comes easily, it can be lots of fun, too.

To this end, the RE-1 Valley School District is implementing Reading Recovery this year at Stevens and Caliche elementary schools. The Reading Recovery program is designed to significantly reduce the number of children who have reading difficulties in first grade.

All the RE-1 first-grade pupils in Sterling attend Stevens School this year, where three specially-trained teachers work with the children who are having the most difficulty learning to read. Caliche School has one Reading Recovery teacher for the first-graders who need the extra help.

Ron Marostica, assistant superintendent at RE-1, became familiar with the program when he worked at schools in other states and was impressed with the results. The idea, he said, is to help children who are having reading difficulties “recover,” before they become defeated. The children recommended for Reading Recovery are the lowest readers in the first grade who don’t qualify for the Title I Reading or Special Education programs.

APRIL 2007

Pleasant Valley educator keeps flock in the fold through books
Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, PA
By Helen Yanulus
April 30, 2007

Dora Deen Tartar is an education shepherd, of sorts.

She and her fellow educators identify youngsters who stray in their literacy progress and then herd the word-shy kids back into the fold of books, imagination and self-worth.

And that is just one of many things that this Kunkletown native does in a day. She is the reading supervisor/Title I director for the Pleasant Valley School District — the same district where she was a goalie for the varsity field hockey team and on stage with the drama club in her youth…

And for those who don't connect with reading, Tartar has instituted several programs, one of which is the Reading Recovery Program. The early intervention program catches those students not reading at grade level in first grade.
 

Reading Recovery program receives highest rating
Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, IA
April 6, 2007

The national Reading Recovery® program, which is administered locally by Northwest Area Education Agency, recently received the highest ranking for effectiveness by the U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse.

WWC, an initiative of the USDE's Institute of Education Sciences, was established to provide educators and the public with a central, trusted source for determining what works in education based on scientific evidence.

"This independent assessment is the gold stamp we have long-awaited and confirms our decision to offer Reading Recovery as a safety net for first-graders who are having difficulty learning to read and write," said Pat Fostvedt-Oxendale, Northwest AEA Reading Recovery teacher leader and educational consultant.
 

MAY 2007

$100,000 designated as challenge gift
DesMoinesRegister.com, Des Moines, IA (news shorts)
May 21, 2007

Reading group's efforts credited Reading Recovery, which is supported by Heartland Area Education Agency, received the highest ranking for effectiveness by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education.

The WWC determined that Reading Recovery, a one-to-one tutoring program for the lowest-achieving first-graders, has positive effects on students' alphabetic skills and general reading achievement.
 

Schools target reading
The Saginaw News, Saginaw, MI
May 21, 2007

MIDLAND -- Midland Public Schools is announcing a literacy initiative to teach all primary students to read well.

"The goal is to train all early elementary teachers in advanced literary strategies so no child leaves the primary grades without learning to read," said Kathy Ellison, director of curriculum, instruction and staff development.

The Buell Scholars Program will train all primary teachers in learning efforts such as Reading Recovery or Orton-Gillingham, she said.
 

A decade of Reading Recovery
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen, Beaver Dam, WI
By Terri Pederson
May 11, 2007
 
With cake and salad and lots of stories about how the program has helped children, teachers who learned about the program gathered at the Reading Recovery site at Lincoln Elementary School on Thursday.

More than 60 teachers from 11 school districts have been taught those skills.
 

PTA presents scholarships
Midland Reporter-Telegram, Midland, TX
By Mary Dearen
May 8, 2007

Midland Council of PTAs recently announced its scholarship winners for 2007-2008.

Among the four educators who were honored was Patricia Villanueva, who teaches first grade at Bonham Elementary. She has been a teacher for 17 years, seven of those at MISD. A trained Reading Recovery teacher, she is working toward a master's in education, with a reading specialist certificate at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

She received a Royce Austin Memorial Scholarship, which is $500 for tuition to a specific college or continuing education program.

Hyattsville teacher wins county honors
Business Gazette, Gaithersburg, MD
by Dennis Carter
May 3, 2007

Leah Rempert appeared stunned when her name was announced as this year’s county ‘‘Teacher of the Year,” despite considerable recognition she’s received as one of the best in Prince George’s County.

With her eyes welling up, Rempert embraced schools Superintendent John Deasy at the 21st annual Prince George’s County Teacher of the Year Award ceremony in Mitchellville Tuesday.

Rempert, a 38-year veteran of the school system, is a reading specialist and Reading Recovery teacher at Hyattsville’s Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School.
 

JUNE 2007

Johnston schools place emphasis on reading
DesMoinesRegister.com, Des Moines, IA
By Lisa Lavia Ryan
June 14, 2007

The Johnston school district will continue to allocate the resources it can toward early-reading programs because recent studies have shown that students with reading difficulties in first grade usually continue to have reading problems in high school, officials said.

During the Johnston school board meeting Monday night, reading/language arts coordinator Debra Cale presented annual data and information about the district's reading efforts. Cale focused on the district's core reading programs as well as such specialty intervention programs as Reading Recovery.

"The primary way to meet the needs of every student is to establish a strong core reading program," Cale told board members. "We have a core program in place for kindergarten through fifth grade, and we're working on articulating a better core program for secondary-education students."

JULY 2007

Teachers help to make ‘every child a reader’
Mid Devon Star – Mid-Devon, UK
July 16, 2007

Four Mid Devon teachers recently completed Reading Recovery training and will lead the way in pioneering a reading programme, which is set to benefit hundreds of children in Devon.

“Reading Recovery allows children to make great progress in their reading and there is considerable evidence to show they maintain that progress through their school careers and carry on developing with their peers,” said Dr. Norrey.

The initiative is now set to be rolled-out across Devon with specially qualified “reading recovery teachers” sharing their skills with fellow teachers.
 

Reading program engages children
Tonganoxie Mirror - Tonganoxie, KS
By Eric Sorrentino
July 12, 2007

Tonganoxie children are working this summer to Keep on Reading.

The program lasts through August and provides children primarily in the first and second grades with six books to read this summer. This is the second year for the program.

"We're trying to find ways to motivate kids to keep reading over the summer," said Reann French, Reading Recovery teacher at Tonganoxie Elementary School. "The kids are excited to get mail. They get to keep the books."

The books will be free of charge to the families. The Tonganoxie Education Foundation helped Reading Recovery purchase the books.

French and Debbie Williams, also of Reading Recovery, organized the program. About 50 children will receive books in the mail this summer. The group doesn't meet, but French and Williams ask parents for feedback at the end of the summer.
 

AUGUST 2007

McDonald Board Hears About Reading Program
Youngstown Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio
By Mary Smith
August 28, 2007

The district’s first-grade Reading Recovery Program was on display at the school board’s Monday night session. The program’s teachers gave the board a report on the first-year program’s success.
 

Seminar Focuses on Literacy
Manawatu Standard, New Zealand
August 15, 2007

Schools struggling with tail-end students was the focus of a seminar at Massey university College of Education yesterday. In New Zealand, about 14,000 children are in a Reading Recovery program. National Reading Recovery Centre Coordinator, Blair Koefoed spoke to attendees and quoted British research on cost-savings for Reading Recovery at a figure of (PndStlg) 47,000 ($NZ129,000) a person by the age of 37.
 

SEPTEMBER 2007

Reading Recovery helps 1st graders stay on track
Brighton-Pittsford Post, Pittsford, NY
(reprinted with permission)
September 26-October 2, 2007
By Molly Giles

Children who struggle with early reading and writing skills are not necessarily destined for Special Ed, says reading and literacy expert Sue Geier of BOCES 2 in Spencerport. These kids may only need a few months of one-on-one literacy tutoring that is skillfully geared to their unique strengths and weaknesses.  

A program that meets this need is Reading Recovery, a highly effective early intervention developed in New Zealand 30 years ago and now used throughout the U.S., including many school districts in our area. (See list below.) Geier is the BOCES-employed Reading Recovery Teacher Leader and Site Coordinator for Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES site, providing 47 local Reading Recovery teachers with advanced education, professional development, and support.
 

Challenging Students in Literacy is goal at Harmony Grove schools
The Courier, Benton, AR
Friday, September 28, 2007

The Reading Recovery program is one way the district is addressing literacy. The program benefits first- and second-graders. The Reading Recovery teacher also leads several small literacy groups.

Prime Mover
Hackney Gazette News, London, England
Friday, September 28, 2007

A South Hackney seven-year-old impressed Gordon Brown so much with his reading ability that the youngster got a mention in the Prime Minister's speech at the Labour Party conference this week.
 

The schoolboys who inspired Gordon Brown
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
By Duncan Gardham and Laura Clout
September 25, 2007

Prime Minister Gordon Brown featured seven-year-old Max, a Reading Recovery student in his speech on September24. Max, who was formerly struggling to read, has now overtaken many children his age thanks to Reading Recovery’s one-to-one tuition.

For LCSD1 Teacher of the Year winner Janet Gronski, ‘it’s about kids’
Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Cheyenne, WY
By Becky Orr
September 25, 2007

Janet Gronski, a trained Reading Recovery teacher was named 2008 Teacher of the Year for Laramie County School District 1. Gronski says she learned from Reading Recovery why children make the mistakes they do in reading and learned ways to help them. Gronski is a member of the Reading Recovery Council of North America.
 

Reading skills of elementary students being strengthened
Netherlands Antilles Daily Herald, Philipsburg, Saint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
September 18, 2007

In an effort to strengthen the reading skills of elementary students, five public primary schools are currently involved in a Reading Recovery programme for the 2007/2008 academic year.

Reading Recovery is an early intervention literacy programme for children. “Typically, these would be first grade (cycle one, year three) students who have the most difficulty in reading and writing,” it was stated in a press release.

Washington again receives School of Promise distinction
Oshkosh Northwestern, Oshkosh, WI
By Amanda M. Wimmer
September 12, 2007

Inside the doors of the Washington Elementary School hangs a bulletin board letting students and staff know the school has been recognized as a New Wisconsin Promise School for the 2007-08 school year. Washington is one of 63 schools statewide to receive this award for schools eligible for Title I funding. …Principal James Thoma “credits some of the success at the school to the reading recovery program, which takes first-grade students who are having a hard time reading.”

Reading teacher up for state’s biggest honor
Hanover Park Press, Hanover Park, IL
By Laura Knapp
September 12, 2007

Renae Kraetsch, a Reading Recovery teacher at Einstein Elementary School is one of eight teachers statewide to be named a finalist for the Illinois 2007-08 Teacher of the Year. Talking about the results of her Reading Recovery teaching Kraetsch said, “I’ve seen students who have been given better literacy skills, and I know how the improvements have made life easier for these students,”
 

Federal review names Reading Recovery the only early reading intervention with positive outcomes on all measures
Lesley Today, Cambridge, MA
September 11, 2007

In a review of beginning-reading programs by the federal What Works Clearinghouse, Reading Recovery was found to be the only program that had positive effects across all four domains in the review – alphabetics, fluency, comprehension, and general reading achievement.
 

Reading Recovery Council of Massachusetts & Lesley University establish The Marie M. Clay Chair in Reading Recovery
Lesley Today, Cambridge, MA
September 11, 2007

Lesley University and the Reading Recovery Council of Massachusetts (RRCMA) have announced the creation of The Marie M. Clay Chair in Reading Recovery. The endowed chair has been established with the purpose of recognizing faculty expertise and distinguished scholarships on the Reading Recovery early literacy intervention model developed by New Zealand educator and psychologist Dame Marie M. Clay.
 

Pope honours retired primary school teacher
Marlborough Express, New Zealand
By Angela Crompton
September 6, 2007

A retired Reading Recovery teacher was officially blessed by the Pope and honored for her service to the parish children’s educational and pastoral needs. Pamela McConnell summarized the highlight of her teaching career as: “Seeing a child learn…a little child finding it difficult to learn in a group situation and then seeing the light in their eyes when they succeed.”

OCTOBER 2007

Townsend principal wins award
mlive.com - The Jackson Citizen Patriot, Jackson, MI
by Tarryl Jackson
October 31, 2007

Before Reading Recovery was implemented at Townsend Elementary School in 2000, teachers regulary saw students who couldn't read.

Not anymore. Today, all of the school's children can read, said Principal Paul Chilcote.

Chilcote is one of three administrators statewide to receive an award from the Reading Recovery Council of Michigan for support of the literacy program.
 

Grant for Simcoe County schools
Bayshore Broadcasting, Ontario, Canada
Written by Manny Paiva
October 24, 2007

The Public and Catholic school boards in Simcoe County re getting a grant. The Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board have each received 15 thousand dollars.

The grants come from Deluxe Corporation Foundation -- which owns NEBS Business Products in Midland.

The boards will use the money to train a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader. These Teacher Leaders will then provide training and support for Reading Recovery teachers throughout their school boards.

Reading Recovery teachers offer one on one help to young students who are having difficulty developing literacy skills.

Reading Recovery stats show 75 per cent of students who are in the program reach their grade level expectations.

Daytime stories: Professor warns against ‘reading as a tranquilizer’
Times Mail, Bedford, IA
By Carly Nation
October 24, 2007
(free registration required)

Pat Feiner, Reading Recovery teacher leader at Fayetteville Elementary School offers questions parents can ask when reading aloud with children.
 

Teachers funded to teach reading
Barrie Advance.com, Barrie, ON
By Leigh Blenkhorn
October 23, 2007

Simcoe County school boards are getting a $30,000 boost in the form of two scholarship grants. The scholarships, from the Deluxe Corporation Foundation, will go to teacher-leader training for the Reading Recovery program. The Reading Recovery program is a daily one-onm-one program for Grade 1 students who need extra help reading. Teachers Christine Jenkins from the Simcoe County District School Board, and Haley Cruse of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District. These teachers will then instruct others throughout their boards.
 

Every School Every Thursday – Des Moines South
Des Moines Register.com, Des Moines, IA
October 18, 2007

Park Avenue Elementary School
Reading teachers Chris Andrews and Deb Todey work with first-grade students through a program called Reading Recovery. Reading Recovery is a research-based program available to selected first-grade students who may have difficulty learning to read and write. Reading Recovery teachers complete a yearlong training in order to learn specific teaching procedures to meet the needs of struggling readers. The professional development does not stop there. These teachers have ongoing training throughout each school year. Every six weeks, Reading Recovery teachers convene to study under the direction of a teacher leader. Reading Recovery teachers observe each other as they give a Reading Recovery lesson to a student. Lively discussion enlightens observing teachers. Feedback is given to the teacher being observed. The purpose of the training is to gain expertise from each other and strengthen understanding of the reading and writing process.
 

Reading program helps students
Northwest Herald, Crystal Lake, IL
By Kathy Gresy
October 16, 2007

A reading program that has been used by School District 47 for more than a decade continues to be a success. Reading Recovery, a program provided by all District 47 elementary schools, primarily serves first-grade students in need of additional reading instruction. The program has helped struggling students become better readers, Associate Superintendent Chris Harris said, adding that about 220 students will benefit from Reading Recovery this year.

When trees fall, resist the urge to meddle
Times Online, London, UK
By Libby Purves
October 15, 2007

Columnist Libby Purves uses Reading Recovery as an example of government meddling. “Reading Recovery, an intensive programme, for slow readers at 6, had worked in New Zealand and was piloted here in the early Nineties, studies showing rapid improvement within weeks. It was due to become universal but in 1995 the Conservative Government pulled the plug on its funding and designed its own National Literacy Strategy, focusing not on the worst readers but on all children – whether they needed it or not. Evidence shows that this works far less well, particularly for those in most need." More…
 

Never too early for a book
Holland Sentinel.com, Holland, MI
By Roel Garcia
October 11, 2007

Bobbe Mills, a Zeeland schools teacher, touts the Reading Recovery program, something her daughter, Mackenzie, went through while in first grade. The program is designed for one-on-one interactions between a teacher and student. …Now a fifth-grader, Mackenzie enjoys books and is reading at several grade levels higher than average.
 

Reading Recovery Program Shows Results in Berkeley Schools
The Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeley, CA
By Riya Bhattacharjee
October 5, 2007

Alisha, a shy 6-year-old from Nepal, cannot recognize or write her own name. She also gets confused between the words “dog” and “dad,” as well as among a dozen other similar words. The Berkeley public school first-grader showed improvement during her recent Reading Recovery lesson, an early intervention literacy program that helps children who are struggling to read and write at grade level.

Starting this fall, elementary school teachers in the Berkeley Unified School District are being trained in Reading Recovery after an eight-year hiatus of the program from the district.
 

Reading program for Catholic Schools
Bayshore Broadcasting Corp., OwenSound, Ontario
By Robyn Garvey
October 4, 2007

The Bruce Grey Catholic School Board is investing even more resources into a new pilot project. The Reading Recovery program began last year and focuses on struggling grade one students who are not reading at the proper level. Resource Teacher Jayne Campbell says the program has been a success.
 

Rescuing young readers
Echo Press, Alexandria, MN
By Celeste Beam
October 3, 2007

Reading is a key skill that every child learns at a very young age – many by the time they enter 1st grade. While many students learn their ABCs and 123s in the classroom with the rest of the students, there are some who need more one-to-one time with their teacher. (Free registration may be required.)

NOVEMBER 2007

Rep. Barrett visits Anderson school to observe Reading Recovery lesson
Anderson Independent-Mail, Anderson, SC
November 28, 2007

Anderson County - U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett visited Calhoun Academy of the Arts in Anderson on Wednesday morning to observe a Reading Recovery lesson.

Rep. Barrett, R-S.C., observed the lesson and met with Clemson University faculty as well as Anderson School District 5 personnel. The congressman also spoke with students in an assembly.
 

Our young readers deserve investment
Jackson Citizen Patriot, Jackson, MI
Editorial
November 21, 2007

There seems little debate among educators as to the value of Reading Recovery, and there's much to suggest that Jackson-area schools use it well. Since the 1999-2000 school year, more than 1,500 Jackson County first-graders have gotten extra help in reading. The principal of Townsend Elementary School in Vandercook Lake recently received an honor for his school's commitment to young readers.

Reading Recovery bails out children who don't read as well as their classmates and usually turns them around before their problem becomes chronic. With so much to be gained, the question isn't whether schools be involved with this effort. It's this: Why aren't more schools using this approach?
 

Priority Lists, Bloc Scheduling and RTI
Advance: The Nation’s Speech-Language and Audiology Weekly
By Barb Slocum
November 19, 2007

This article, aimed at speech-language and audiology professionals, discusses Response to Intervention (RTI) and how it complies with the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.

It provides examples from Chenago Forks Schools in Binghamton, NY which uses Reading Recovery as an RTI intervention for struggling readers in first grade readers.

Legislators to observe Reading Recovery program Friday
Daily Messenger, Seneca, SC
by Greg Oliver
November 15, 2007

SENECA — Members of the Oconee County Legislative Delegation will receive a firsthand look at the School District of Oconee County's Reading Recovery program during a Friday morning visit to Code Elementary School.
 

Theresa Olesen selected as KSL teacher feature
Nebo News, Spanish Fork, UT
November 2, 2007

"Anything to help a child learn." That's the motto for Theresa Olesen, a kindergarten teacher at Westside Elementary School in Springville. Theresa received the "Teacher Feature" award this week. She was nominated by the aunt of a former student.

Mrs. Olesen offered to tutor him in the Reading Recovery Program on her own time.

DECEMBER 2007

Keene school receives donated books
Coshocton Tribune, Coshocton, OH
December 28, 2007

Family and friends of reading recovery teacher Joni Peddicord donated 50 books to the Keene Elementary school library for Peddicord's birthday.
 

School administrators unveil k-4 cuts
BrainerdDispatch.com, Brainerd, MN
By Jody Tweed
December 20, 2007
(free registration required)

Brainerd school administrators unveiled Thursday, to parents who attended an elementary school listening session at Forestview Middle School, what kindergarten through fourth-grade program reductions they plan to recommend to the school board as part of the $5.5 million in budget reductions for the 2008-09 school year...Elementary schools will continue to have intervention programs such as Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative.
 

Take kids back to school, go shopping
Stockton Record, Stockton, CA
December 14, 2007

Lodi Unified waits reading program
LODI - The Lodi Unified School District Board of Trustees decided Tuesday night to hold off shutting down a reading intervention program for first-graders.

Reading Recovery, a one-on-one program designed to help students who test in the bottom 20 percent in English-language arts at Lodi Unified's socioeconomically disadvantaged schools to read, was expected to be discontinued at the end of this school year. The district, which is in its third year of state monitoring due to low performance on standardized tests, operates a Houghton Mifflin curriculum in English-language arts and was planning to present state educators with a letter stating it was redirecting its resources to training all teachers with Houghton Mifflin, leaving no room for Reading Recovery.
 

Reading program gets temporary stay from LUSD board members
Lodi News-Sentinel, Lodi, CA
By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
December 12, 2007

A popular set of teaching strategies and an intervention program received a temporary stay of execution Tuesday night when Lodi Unified board members decided to hold off on phasing them out in favor of a state-adopted curriculum.

The set of teaching strategies, called the Comprehensive Language Literacy Program, and the intervention program, called Reading Recovery, are used to help struggling first-grade readers catch up with their peers.

Adrian College, school districts partner in teacher training effort
The Daily Telegram, Adrian, MI
By Phil Johnson
December 8, 2007

ADRIAN — Adrian College is providing a place for its students and county educators to learn and evaluate teaching methods.

A remodeled classroom in the college’s Valade Hall allowed seven area educators a chance to critique and discuss Reading Recovery teaching methods on Thursday. Teachers from Adrian and Sand Creek schools watched through a one-way window as Blissfield Elementary reading specialist Dianne Cory worked with first-grader Gavin Duval.
 

Ed Balls announces pilots to help children with dyslexia
PR Newswire - GNN London, England
December 5, 2007

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2007/0232)
issued by The Government News Network on 5 December 2007

Ed Balls today announced a new scheme to help children who have dyslexia, identified through the 'Every Child a Reader' programme.

As part of a package of measures to improve support for children with dyslexia, with an additional £1m a year for the next three years, the pilot scheme will provide intensive support for children in 10 local authority areas.

Half the children will receive additional one-to-one 'Reading Recovery' support and the other half will receive one-to-one tuition from specialist dyslexia teachers. Their improvement will be closely monitored for progress. If specialist provision demonstrates significant impact, ministers will look at how assessment and specialist dyslexia support could be rolled out nationwide as best practice.
 

Dyslexia scheme announced
inthenews.co.uk, London, England
December 5, 2007

Intensive support for children with dyslexia in ten local authority areas has been announced by the government today.

The support is part of a package of measures to improve help for dyslexic children, which has been given a grant of £1 million a year for the next three years.

Ed Balls, children, schools and families secretary, said the measure would help children identified through the Every Child a Reader programme.

Half of the children in the ten areas receiving intensive support will be given one-to-one 'reading recovery' support and the other half will receive one-to-one tuition from specialist dyslexia teachers.

Their progress will be closely monitored and if the scheme is successful the government will consider rolling it out nationwide.
 

Special education numbers decline on LI, rise in state
Newsday.com, Long Island, NY
by John Hildenbrand
December 4, 2007

Under pressure to mainstream more students and curb costs, many Long Island schools are cutting back on percentages of students placed in special-education classes -- in some cases by offering such youngsters intense tutoring instead.

...Like many districts, Sayville provides a variety of tutoring options including Reading Recovery, a program of one-on-one reading instruction for first-graders. The district's special-education enrollments have dropped from 16.4 percent of all students in 1997-98 to 11.5 percent in 2005-06.