Reading Recovery in the News - October-December 2007

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

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
(Free registration)
 

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.