Reading Recovery:
The Gateway to Literacy for "At Risk Youngsters"

Reading Recovery is the most highly effective early literacy intervention program in the School District of Philadelphia. By the end of the 1999-2000 school year, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund through Philadelphia QuEST Reading Recovery will have trained forty Reading Recovery teachers and teachers-in-training. These teachers and teacher leaders accompanied Rosalind Jones-Johnson, Reading Recovery Site Coordinator, to the first Mid Atlantic Reading Recovery Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on November 7-9, 1999. Last year ninety-five of the most "at risk" first grade youngsters were brought up to grade level in less than twenty weeks by Reading Recovery teachers-in-training. There are numerous early literacy intervention programs in use in the School District of Philadelphia; however, Reading Recovery is the most effective and the only internationally and nationally recognized research based program.

Reading Recovery is more than a one-on-one tutorial for at risk children. It is a school-wide intervention that involves a network of education, communication, and collegiality designed to create a culture of learning that promotes literacy for "at risk" children. Reading Recovery teachers are the most highly skilled early literacy professionals in the district. Elementary schools that are serious about improving student achievement are investing in Reading Recovery. Reading Recovery uses highly skilled teachers and more than five hundred books with "at risk" youngsters. Purchasing books and commercial publisher's materials without investing in libraries and state of the arts professional development will not improve student achievement. There are no substitutes for investing in librarians, libraries and highly skilled early literacy teachers trained by Reading Recovery.

Students who do not learn to read during the first year of school experience enormous difficulty especially when they are asked to read to learn. Teaching youngsters to read by the end of first grade is the single most important task assigned to elementary schools. If efficient reading skills are not developed in elementary school, the English language, history, mathematics, current events, and rich content of literature, science and foreign language becomes inaccessible. More students fail to learn to read by the end of the third grade than many people imagine. All schools encounter students who fall into this category and all elementary schools should have Reading Recovery for addressing the special needs of these students. Unfortunately, too many school district administrators are not knowledgeable about Reading Recovery. The perception among the uninformed is "Reading Recovery is expensive". It is one of the most cost effective early literacy programs.

These administrators spend tens of thousands on basal readers and other material driven programs that don't improve student achievement. Reading Recovery teachers, in addition to improving literacy for "at risk" students, spend half the school day working with small groups and other literacy activities, at all grade levels. Reading Recovery provides schools with highly skilled literacy experts. Reading Recovery is an investment in children. Children who do not learn to read today can expect to live on the margins of society in every way. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund is working to ensure that Reading Recovery is accessible for all youngsters. Schools must accept responsibility because we can teach "at risk" youngsters to read or recommend students for additional support before they fail. Reading is the gateway to learning and literacy is the ultimate "access" issue in American education. More than ever before, Philadelphia public schools are being asked to improve student achievement and to do so for all students. Meeting this challenge requires that all students learn to read and receive early intervention by the end of first grade.

Link to Reading Recovery.