Reading Recovery in the News - January - December 2010

JANUARY 2010

Funding provides school programs
Nyngan Observer - New South Wales, Australia
January 27, 2010

Nyngan Public School provides quality education, dedicated and enthusiastic teachers, excellent facilities, tailored teaching programs and a range of extra- curricular activities to name just a few.

At Nyngan Public School (NPS) students are fortunate to be the recipients of additional funding from a range of sources including National Partnerships, Priority Schools Program (PSP) and Country Areas Program (CAP).

...The Reading Recovery Program which will also run for five half-days per week will supplement the language program. Funding is provided through National Partnerships and Reading Recovery allocation.
 

Classroom notes
Joliet Herald News - Joliet, IL
January 25, 2010

PLAINFIELD -- Ridge Elementary School kindergarten and Reading Recovery teacher Ann Smelser has received a professional development scholarship worth up to $1,000.

The scholarship covers all expenses to attend the Reading Recovery Council of North America's kindergarten through sixth grade National Classroom Literacy Conference, slated for Feb. 6-9 in Columbus, Ohio.
 

Peering through the glass helps teachers teach
Gillette News Record - Gillette, WY
by Michael Johnson
January 25, 2010

Jacob Redding sat in a small room with just a teacher, a book and few other distractions. There was a large mirror in front of him.

He is a bright student but his reading level was below average for a first-grade student when he started school in the fall, his teacher said.

Every day of school for the past 10 weeks, he has been visiting a Reading Recovery teacher at his school for 30 minutes.

Warwick educator advocates innovative reading program
Providence Journal - Providence, RI
by Barbara Polichetti
January 22, 2010

WARWICK — After more than 40 years in public education, Robert Bushell, director of elementary education, can easily spot a winner when it comes to identifying programs that work well.

And for the past decade, a tutoring program called Reading Recovery has been at the top of his list.

The program turns struggling readers into lasting success stories, Bushell said, adding he believes in the program so much that when funding cuts jeopardized it this school year, he pushed for Warwick to step forward to serve as Rhode Island’s training center for the initiative.
 

Reading top priority for school director candidate
Paris Post Intelligencer - Paris, TN
by Daniel Williams
January 21, 2010
(Registration required)

Relevant experience was one of the main attributes Steven Gallaway emphasized during an interview with the Henry County Board of Education for the open director of schools position Wednesday night at the Grove Tower building.

Dr. Gallaway has been the director of elementary schools in Williamson County since 2004 and has also worked with large schools and school districts in Texas.

An avid reader himself, Gallaway has worked to improve reading scores in his elementary schools with great success. He realized one day that emphasizing grades 3-5, the grades being tested, was not working. So he began emphasizing reading skills starting in pre-school, and the first year that those pre-schoolers hit the third grade, the scores went through the roof.

He also has instituted a Reading Recovery program in which children who are falling dangerously behind in reading are pulled out of regular reading classes at an early age.

Instead they are taught one-on-one for six weeks by a teacher trained to help children overcome reading problems. Gallaway said the program has had great success and most of the time results in the child catching up to classmates.

Board of Education Honors Exemplary Employees
Bay Net - Charles County, MD
January 21, 2010

The Board of Education honored five exemplary Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) employees at its monthly meeting Jan. 12. Honored were Beth Ramsey, Joan Simms, John Makell III, Heather McKeown and Scott Brain.

Simms is a Reading Recovery teacher at William B. Wade Elementary School. She was nominated for recognition by Principal Amy DiSabatino and Wade staff for her devotion and genuine concern for children, and for going above and beyond to ensure students succeed. Simms worked with the school counselor to create a support program that uses puppets to help struggling students improve their fluency. Simms is a quiet leader and her expertise brings teachers to her classroom door on a daily basis. She has also served as a mentor to new teachers, and helps teachers analyze data, implement ideas and develop a classroom language to assist struggling readers. “Mrs. Simms has an exemplary work ethics. She has been the most influential teacher at Wade to help struggling readers achieve grade level success. There is no harder worker at Wade than Joan Simms,” DiSabatino wrote in an award nomination letter.
 

Alamogordo schools are 'best in the West'
Alamogordo Daily News - Alamogordo, NM
by Dr. Jann Hunter
January 17, 2010

You may have heard the great news: Yucca Elementary School recently received a high state award and was named by the New Mexico Public Education Department as the Title I Distinguished School, followed by Sierra Elementary School. Congratulations to these wonderful schools, and in truth, all of our elementary schools. Hopefully, this column will help explain why this is so remarkable.

Some of the efforts of the district and the elementary schools include consistent implementation of our Comprehensive Literacy and Math Initiatives, which include research-based curriculum and programs. All APS schools participate with Continuous Improvement/SQS, federal and state support from Reading First, as well as MC2/National Science Foundation (math support), Reading Recovery, and strong intervention programs in their Title I computer labs.
 

Bushell champions Reading Recovery for 20 years
Warwick Beacon - Warwick, RI
by Colby Cremins
January 14, 2010

Bob Bushell is receiving a national award for the success of the Reading Recovery program in Warwick public schools.

Bushell, the director of elementary education for Warwick Public Schools, has supported and promoted Reading Recovery for more than 20 years. He started his involvement when he was principal at Lippitt Elementary School.

“This program is number one for early intervention,” said Bushell.

Reading Recovery is a short-term program of one-to-one tutoring for first graders who struggle with early reading and writing. Individual students receive a 30-minute lesson each school day with a specially certified Reading Recovery teacher.

Bushell is one of two awardees that will receive an award at the Teacher Leader Institute in Columbus, Ohio. The awards ceremony will take place on Feb. 6, during the Teacher Leader Institute conference.


Benefit of one-to-one tuition for struggling pupils lasts years
Times Online - London, England
January 8, 2010

Six-year-olds struggling at school who are given 40 hours of personal tuition in reading and writing outstrip their classmates years later, a university study shows.

The first long-term research into the Every Child a Reader project found lasting benefits from one-to-one tuition for children at the bottom of their class.

Researchers at the Institute of Education, University of London, analysed the impact of the £10 million programme on the children who were lowest achieving at the end of Year 1 (aged six), at ten schools.

The children who had one-to-one “Reading Recovery” lessons are reading and writing significantly better than similar children. Yet in maths, in which they had no help, they are experiencing the same difficulties as other similar children.


Students benefit from Reading Recovery
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines, IA
January 5, 2010

Reading Recovery, a program that has helped more than 10,000 struggling first-grade students become successful readers and writers, is kicking off its 20th year in the Des Moines Public Schools.

Students in the program, which targets the 20 percent of first-graders with the lowest literacy proficiency, work one-on-one with a specially trained teacher for 30 minutes each day. The goal is for these students to reach grade level so they can benefit from good classroom teaching.

FEBRUARY 2010

Reading boost for Hertfordshire schools
Watford Observer - Watford, Hertfordshire, England
by Alex Lewis
February 24, 2010

School bosses are pulling out all the stops to help struggling young Hertfordshire children learn to read and write.

A new training centre has been set up in Tring, where the first group of 20 teachers are learning how to help five and six-year-olds with literacy problems, in a programme to be extended this year to staff from schools across the county.
 

Peering through the glass helps teachers teach
Connecticut Post/Gillette News Record - Gillette, WY
by Michael Johnson
February 17, 2010

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Jacob Redding sat in a small room with just a teacher, a book and few other distractions. There was a large mirror in front of him.

He is a bright student but his reading level was below average for a first-grade student when he started school in the fall, his teacher said.

Every day of school for the past 10 weeks, he has been visiting a Reading Recovery teacher at his school for 30 minutes.

There's nothing new about the Reading Recovery Program. The Campbell County School District has used it to bring all first-grade students to at least average level of reading before they reach the second grade since the 1995-96 school year. Reading Recovery teacher leader Linda Keech said.

FBISD's Reading Recovery Celebrates 15th Anniversary
FortBendNow - Fort Bend, TX
February 12, 2010

Fort Bend Independent School District’s Reading Recovery Program staff recently joined former teachers, students, district staff and business and community members at a reception to celebrate the program’s 15th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the Descubriendo la Lecture program.

The event gave program participants and supporters the opportunity to share and learn about program highlights that have taken place over the years. Since its existence in FBISD, the RR/DLL programs have served more than 8,612 first-grade students who have had difficulty in learning to read and write, and has an impressive success rate with 90 percent of former first-grade students meeting the standards for the third-grade reading component of the TAKS test in 2009.

MARCH 2010

New Reading Recovery website brings more and better information
Media Newswire (press release) - London, England
March 29, 2010

Media-Newswire.com) - The European Centre for Reading Recovery, based at the Institute of Education, has redeveloped its website. The website, which went live on Monday 22 March 2010, is the first of the IOE's satellite sites to move onto its new Content Management System, acting as a pilot for others to follow.

The website at http://readingrecovery.ioe.ac.uk/ now provides a deeper conceptualization of the literacy intervention with information for education authorities, schools and parents/guardians, as well as reports, research and case studies.

Board of Education Honors Exemplary Employees
Bay Net - Lexington Park, MD
March 18, 2010

The Board of Education honored seven exemplary Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) employees at its monthly meeting March 9. Honored were Cynthia Anderson, Cheryl Ervin, Sarah Elliott, Tracy Blake, Christine Gamble, Jeffrey Lambert and Mary Bilmanis.

Anderson is the Reading Recovery teacher at Berry Elementary School. She was nominated for recognition by Principal Darryl Evans for supporting struggling readers, serving as a mentor for fellow teachers, and for leading by example. For the past three school years, Anderson has coordinated multiple after school literacy groups for students who need additional help with reading.

APRIL 2010

Parents Teachers Praise Reading Recovery / abc27 News Video
abc27 News - Palmyra, PA
April 30, 2010

The Palmyra Area School District credits a one-on-one program with helping students who struggle with reading and writing.
 

Superintendent aims for 100% grad rate
Edmonton Journal - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
by Sarah O'Donnell
April 29, 2010

When the 200 principals and top administrators within Edmonton Public Schools gathered for their monthly meeting in early April, Supt. Edgar Schmidt had a question for them: "What's happening with the Grade 2 kids?"

NOT LEFT TO CHANCE. "If we want to get everybody across that finish line, we need to make sure services we provide were designed into the organization, rather than leaving it to chance -- the chance that I've got the funds in my school account, or no, I can't do that this year," Schmidt said.

Take a program such as Reading Recovery, where a specialized teacher works one-on-one with students who are reading or writing below grade level. Currently, schools must pick up the cost of that reading specialist after the first year.

"We have Reading Recovery available in about 65 schools, but the need is much greater than that," Schmidt said. "So how could we provide that extra level of support for every area elementary school? Let's have that conversation. In order for us to do that, we'll have to talk about some trade-offs."


IU School of Education names new Armstrong Teacher Educators
Indiana University News Release - Bloomington, IN
April 23, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University School of Education has announced a class of six Indiana public school teachers as the group of Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educators for the 2010-11 school year. These select teachers will participate in professional development opportunities and work with IU faculty and students studying to be teachers over the next year. A committee of IU faculty and former recipients choose the Armstrong teachers.

...Natalie Hatton, second grade and Reading Recovery teacher at Crestdale Elementary School in Richmond. Driven by her goal of finding innovative ways to teach literacy to primary students, she has created several projects to help her students. Teaming with IU East Associate Professor of English Jean Harper, college students and first graders have worked together on a "Literacy through Photography" project. Another year-long unit integrated science and literacy by a study of trees. "Inspired by several workshops I attended in the past few years, I tried out some unique teaching techniques that have helped to motivate my students," Hatton said. "I hope to do a project with the support of an IU faculty member and IU students that enhances my second grade classroom, especially in the area of literacy or science. One thing I am particularly interested in improving through this opportunity is my ability to question students in a way that makes them more critical thinkers."

Bible Hill educator recognized for excellence in teaching
Truro Daily News - Nova Scotia, Canada
April 22, 2010

TRURO - A teacher from a Bible Hill school is being commended for his excellence in teaching.

Shawn McNutt of Bible Hill Central Elementary School was one of three educators honoured this week with a Provincial Education Week award.

McNutt, a reading recovery and physical education teacher, is known within the teaching community as an educator who constantly meets the motivational and learning needs of all his students by embracing empathy, respect and genuineness in the classroom.

MAY 2010

Heathsville Teacher Receives "Super Teacher" Award
valottery.com - Heathsville, VA
May 27, 2010

A teacher at Northumberland Elementary School in Heathsville has been selected as one of eight educators statewide to receive the Virginia Lottery Super Teacher Award.

Jan Bates received the award in a surprise presentation at her school on May 27, 2010...Theresa Larsen, Assistant Principal at Northumberland Elementary School, wrote the winning essay that described Jan’s dedication and commitment to the students in the Reading Recovery program:

“Watching Jan Bates work with a Reading Recovery student is like watching beauty in motion. Mrs. Bates is a master of instructional strategies and actively engages students in their reading.”

Newton literacy program gives challenged readers a big boost
Newton Kansan - Newton, KS
by Cristina Janney
May 21, 2010

NEWTON — A program in Newton schools is giving students a leg up in learning to read. Reading Recovery is an early intervention program for first-grade students.

“In remediation, we wait to see if children fail, and then we try to help them. Reading Recovery gets students before they fail and helps them early,” said Kent Ryechner, Reading Recovery teacher. Reading Recovery assists about 100 students per year.

The program, which has been in the school district for 10 years, is backed by national research. Nationally, the program has between 75 percent and 80 percent success rate. Locally, 67 percent of the students who were involved in the program still were students in Newton schools in grades three through five. Of those students, 77 percent were reading at or above grade level two to four years later. That includes English Language Learners and students receiving special education services, said Marsha Schmidt, Reading Recovery teacher leader.
 

2 events at ISU to celebrate innovative reading program
Bloomington Pantagraph - Bloomington, IL
by Michele Steinbacher
May 4, 2010

NORMAL — A literacy center at Illinois State University is celebrating its 20th year training Central Illinois teachers to help young struggling readers.

“We’ve had more than 200 teachers come through the Reading Recovery program in the past two decades,” said Tom Crumpler, interim director of the Mary and Jean Borg Center for Reading and Literacy, based at ISU.

Washington School teachers contribute to book on RTI
Sheboygan Press - Sheboygan, WI
May 2, 2010

Reading coaches at Washington School for Comprehensive Literacy in Sheboygan were asked by the International Reading Association to be part of its book on RTI (Response to Intervention) that is coming out in early May.

In addition, Washington School is featured in a Reading Recovery publication that came out this past week. Washington was part of a research study that determined how Reading Recovery fits within the (RTI) framework.

Crestdale teacher recognized for innovation
Palladium-Item - Richmond, IN
May 1, 2010

Natalie Hatton, a second-grade and Reading Recovery teacher at Crestdale Elementary School in Richmond, has been named one of six Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educators for the 2010-11 school year by the Indiana University School of Education.

Hatton was recognized for finding innovative ways to teach literacy to primary students. College and first-graders have worked together on a "Literacy through Photography" project, teaming with IU East Associate Professor of English Jean Harper. Another year-long unit integrated science and literacy by a study of trees.

JUNE 2010

National reading award presented to Weston school
Weston & Somerset Mercury - Weston, England
June 30, 2010

A WESTON primary school has won a national award for the way it teaches children to read.

The accolade was presented to Reading Recovery teacher Justine Greenwood of Oldmixon Primary School last week by the Every Child A Chance Trust.

...Headteacher Martin Greenwood said: "We are delighted to win this award which recognises the achievement, hard work and dedication of our Reading Recovery teacher.

"Reading Recovery is now a major feature in our school's efforts to raise standards in reading and is having a massive impact for the children across the school.
 

Have you ever asked yourself if your child is reading and writing at age appropriate level?
Boston Examiner - Boston, MA
June 29, 2010

Are you worried that your child may not be reading and writing at his/her age level? Your child's school can assist with your concern.

Psychologist and educator Dame Marie Clay from New Zealand developed the "Reading Recovery" program. She researched this topic for over 30 years and finally developed the program that is being used in many countries as well as Canada.
 

Wisconsin district's stimulus dollars target early literacy
Education Daily - West Palm Beach, FL
by Wangui Njuguna
June 25, 2010

The Sheboygan Area (Wis.) School District targeted two problems with its federal stimulus dollars: reading problems among its low-income students and looming layoffs of some of its English teachers.

The district directed federal dollars to modify an elementary school program to target first-graders struggling with emergent literacy. …The schools already had reading interventionists and used the Reading Recovery program, so the goal was to add another dimension by providing the lowest-performing students an additional 30-40 minutes of daily intervention through small-group instruction.  …Under the ELI program, each of the five [Title I] schools receives a reading interventionist who is trained in emergent literacy and how to keep a running record of students’ progress.

Based on the Rigby Benchmark PM, the 94 first-grade students who participated in the program last year are making great strides toward proficient and advanced levels.

… At the Washington School for Comprehensive Literacy and Jefferson Elementary School, all participating first-graders are now proficient or advanced. Students are also making progress in Sheridan (94 percent), Longfellow (80 percent), and Grant (72 percent) elementary schools. Similar progress is seen at the second grade level. (See Complete Article for Program Details)

Delight as Lainesmead collects national award
Swindon Advertiser - Swindon, Wiltshire, England
June 25, 2010

LAINESMEAD Primary School has outshone 19,000 primary schools to scoop a prestigious national award for the way it teaches its pupils to read.

The award was presented to four pupils, reading recovery teachers Helen Byrne and Sarah Burgess and head Jeannette Turner at London Zoo on Tuesday.

Bristol primary schools honoured for helping kids to read
Bristol24-7 - Bristol, England
June 25, 2010

Two Bristol primary schools have won national awards for the way they teach children to read.

Filton Avenue Infants and Waycroft Primary School were two of only 32 out of 19,000 primary schools in the country selected for the award.

The awards were presented in London this week, by the Every Child A Chance Trust charity, which is backed by the government and leading businesses and charities.

The awards recognise schools with an outstanding record in working with children who struggle to read and need intensive one-to-one support.

Study shows gains in reading proficiency at Shawano district
Shawano Leader - Shawano, IL
By Nathan Falk
June 24, 2010

Even though the school year is over, teachers and students in the Shawano School District elementary schools are celebrating achievement through a program begun three years ago.

“Since we have changed the curriculum and adopted the Comprehensive Literacy model in 2006, we have seen great growth in the students’ performance,” said Gail Sarnwick, Reading Recovery teacher at Lincoln Elementary School.

New principals named at Kirkwood, Shimek
Iowa City Press Citizen - Iowa City, IA
June 23, 2010

Kirkwood Elementary Principal Bart Mason announced to staff last week that he was leaving to become a regional administrator with the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids. He will be replaced by Anita Gerling, the former Grant Wood Elementary assistant principal who was named the new half-time principal at Shimek Elementary last month. Taking over as principal at Shimek will be Terry Dervrich, a reading recovery teacher and language arts resource specialist, or LARS, who had been appointed as Gerling’s replacement at Wood.

...Dervrich has been a teacher in the Iowa City School District since 1987, teaching kindergarten and Title I classes at Twain, Lincoln, Penn and Mann elementaries. She said her more recent jobs as a LARS and reading recovery teacher have prepared her for the principal’s position.
 

Bates says goodbye to school board
Newton Citizen - Covington, GA
June 17, 2010

COVINGTON — Newton County Board of Education member C.C. Bates may be returning to her home state of South Carolina after living in Newton County since 1997, but that doesn’t mean she won’t miss her time here.

Bates, who has served on the school board since January 2007, participated in her last school board meeting on Tuesday night. She announced in January that she would resign from her post in June to take a new job at Clemson University.

...“I have always wanted to work at the university level,” she said. “I will be teaching graduate courses in reading to lead teachers who will then go back to their districts and teach their teachers. Next year, I am most looking forward to teaching, but I am also very excited about the research piece of my position.”
 

Boswell teachers honored
Journal and Courier - Van Horne, IA
June 15, 2010

The Benton Community School Corp. has named Barb Holmes its teacher of the year.

Holmes is the Title I literacy coordinator and Reading Recovery teacher at Boswell Elementary School.

Guest column: Focus efforts on children reading earlier
jconline.com - West Lafayette, IN
June 14, 2010
by Maribeth Cassidy Schmitt

A recent story in the Journal & Courier ("Most 3rd-graders behind in reading, report says," June 3) reported on a nonprofit children's advocacy group that released a report outlining its concern about a national test showing that most fourth-graders start the year behind in reading.

The call to action in the Casey Foundation's report, titled "Early Warning: Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters," is consistent with state efforts to provide an instructional framework and accountability efforts to insure that all children are proficient readers by the end of third grade.

At Purdue University's Center for Literacy Education and Research in the College of Education we share this concern, but we would like to see the goal for success aimed at an even earlier stage -- first grade.

School board balances budget but draws $1.1 million from reserves
Rainy River Record - Ontario, Canada
June 8, 2010

At the June 1, 2010 Board Meeting, the Rainy River District School Board approved the 2010-2011 balanced budget of $46,814,466. The budget process priority was to prepare a fiscally responsible budget that promotes programs which support achievement for all students. …The new budget will allow the Board to support the new Early Learning Program at North Star Community School, and to support existing programs such as, Full Day Senior Kindergarten, Reading Recovery, Student Achievement Teachers, and aboriginal education programming.
 

Budget Committee Recommends Balanced Budget for Approval
NorthumberlandView.ca - Ontario, Canada
June 8, 2010

Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board Trustees, sitting as the Board’s Budget Committee, tonight recommended a balanced budget for approval by the Board. Presented by administration for consideration by the committee, the balanced budget of $368,920,545 includes additional funding to support a number of key areas of focus for the Board.

The Budget includes $785,436 to support the launch of a reading recovery program. The Reading Recovery program dedicates specially trained teachers to work one-to-one with low-achieving first graders – the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.

“We know that what children learn in the first few grades of school sets the foundation for their future success,” says Lloyd. “Quality early learning opportunities provide children with a greater chance for success and achievement throughout life – and we believe the reading recovery program will benefit those kids who need it the most.”

Reading Recovery teachers meet with the Mayor
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools - Nashville, TN
June 7, 2010

The Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders-in-training, Greta Cetas and Nicki McGowan, and Jill Speering, Metro's resident Reading Recovery teacher leader, came together this week for a special meeting. The teacher leaders-in-training are currently finishing a program offered at Ohio State University. Their participation in this program was made possible by Mayor Karl Dean's support and raising of $50 thousand to fund the training program. The teachers will return to Nashville in mid-June to begin the training of 24 new Reading Recovery Interventionists position.
 

AUGUST 2010

DepEd, NZ university open Reading Recovery Center
SunStar - Davao City, Philippines
August 30, 2010

The Department of Education (DepEd) formally opened Monday the Reading Recovery Center at its National Educators Academy of the Philippines (Neap) office in Davao City.

The center is a continuance of an agreement signed by the DepEd with the University of Auckland (UOA) in New Zealand last year to improve reading among selected public elementary schools in the country.
 

Ohio State poised to receive grant to expand Reading Recovery program
Catalyst Ohio - Columbus, OH
by Rachel Abbey
August 18, 2010

While almost 60 Ohio-based organizations applied for a federal Investing in Innovation grant, only one made the final round: Ohio State University’s Reading Recovery program.

The grant, part of the U.S. Department of Education’s stimulus package, was designed to fund initiatives that were thought to show promise. Unlike the Race to the Top competition, which was limited to states, the Investing in Innovation fund opened its applications to nonprofit organizations, universities and school districts. The more evidence an organization had to support its proposal, the more money it stood to win.

OSU a finalist for grant to fund tutor training
Columbus Dispatch - Columbus, OH
by Encarnacion Pyle
August 6, 2010

Ohio State University could receive nearly $46 million in federal money to train thousands of teachers nationwide in a tutoring method to help low-achieving students read and write.

...Ohio State plans to show 3,750 teachers how to use the Reading Recovery tutoring model to improve the skills of first-graders who have difficulty reading and writing. These students typically are in the lowest 20 percent of their class.
 

Grants for Education Are Awarded
New York Times - New York, NY
by Sam Dillon
August 4, 2010

Teach for America and the KIPP Foundation, which runs a nationwide network of charter schools, each won $50 million in a $650 million federal grant competition known as Investing in Innovation, the Department of Education said Wednesday. The Success for All Foundation, a Baltimore group that helps to turn around troubled elementary schools, won $49 million. Ohio State University, partnered with several other universities, was awarded $46 million to train about 3,750 teachers in the Reading Recovery approach, intended for struggling first-grade students.

49 Applicants Win i3 Grants
Education Week
by Michele McNeil
August 4, 2010

The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that 49 districts, schools, and nonprofits beat out more than 1,600 other applicants in the competition for $650 million in grants from the Investing in Innovation, or i3, fund.

Four groups—the KIPP Foundation, Ohio State University, the Success for All Foundation, and Teach For America—won what are known as “scale up” awards worth up to $50 million each.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Learning Language
UMaine Today - Orono, ME
by George Manlove
Fall 2010

The three second-graders listened attentively as English language learning teacher Jodi Smith read a sentence aloud from a children’s book about snow. Then the youngsters repeated the words.

Suddenly one of the children couldn’t contain her excitement any longer.

“I love it,” seven year old Asma announced. “She is playing in the snow and is making a snowman.”

The enthusiasm and comprehension pleased Mary Rosser, an internationally recognized researcher in early literacy education. As recently as a year ago, some of these children at the Gov. James B. Longley School in Lewiston, Maine, were living in makeshift refugee camps in Somalia. They had never been to school and were not fluent in English…

…Two years ago, the Longley staff decided to try a different approach. Lewiston School Superintendent Leon Levesque and principal Hood spoke with Rosser about Reading Recovery and Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals – an early literacy intervention initiative for special populations of students.

SEHS Reading Recovery program awarded $3.1M grant
oakland.edu - Oakland University - Rochester, MI
by Katie Land
September 27, 2010

Oakland University has joined a select group of research institutions chosen to receive a robust U.S. Department of Education grant as part of its broad sweeping Investing in Innovation (i3) initiative, designed to improve achievement for high-need students throughout America.

OU’s School of Education and Human Services will be receiving a $4,011,688 over the course of five years to support the Reading Recovery program, a short-term early literacy intervention program designed to assist first grade children who have extreme difficulties learning to read.

UK Receives $2.5 Million for Reading Recovery
uknow.uky.edu - University of Kentucky - Lexington, KY
by Keith Lyons
September 24, 2010

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2010) – Kentucky families will benefit from a new federal grant to extend reading education assistance to young readers. The Reading Recovery University Training Center at the University of Kentucky will receive $2.5 million to train 50 Reading Recovery teachers across the state each year for the next five years.

The Reading Recovery Center is part of Kentucky's Collaborative Center for Literacy Development (CCLD), located at the University of Kentucky. It partnered with The Ohio State University (OSU) and several other states to win the federal Innovation (i3) grant.

The OSU Reading Recovery partnership was one of only 49 awardees announced and only one of four scale-up proposals awarded, receiving the highest overall rating. The intent of the proposal is to build upon the success of the current Reading Recovery intervention program. The total funding for the OSU award is nearly $46 million dollars.

UALR's Reading Recovery Program Wins $2.7 Million Grant
Arkansasmatters.com - Little Rock, AR
todaysthv.com - Little Rock, AR
September 23, 2010

UALR has received a $2.7 million grant through the U.S. Department of Education to expand its Reading Recovery program, a teacher training and literacy intervention education program based in the university’s College of Education.

The university’s grant is part of a $45.5 million effort by the Department of Education to “fund what works” in education over the next five years. The “Reading Recovery: Scaling Up What Works” project is a collaboration of 15 institutions of higher education with Ohio State University as the lead institution. UALR is the only Arkansas institution to receive the funding.

UALR College of Education Dean Angela Sewall and Dr. Linda Dorn, director of the UALR Center for Literacy in the College of Education, said the Arkansas funding will allow the university to expand the successful program to struggling schools in Arkansas.

Struggling learners targeted
Brainerddispatch.com - Brainerd, MN
by Jodie Tweed
September 23, 2010

Brainerd School Board Curriculum Committee members learned Wednesday about the district's student academic successes and interventions in place to help struggling learners.

Deb Lechner, director of teaching and learning, and Beth Swenson, Literacy Collaborative district trainer, provided graphs that demonstrated how the district identifies struggling learners as early as kindergarten to make they receive targeted services, such as Title I and Reading Recovery

Rock Hill named top community for young people
The Herald/HeraldOnline.com - Rock Hill, SC
September 21, 2010

ROCK HILL -- The city of Rock Hill was named one of the country’s 100 best communities for young people by a group dedicated to youth and children. This is the third time Rock Hill has received the honor.

America’s Promise Alliance praised the city for supporting a youth council that lets high school students talk about issues important to their age group.

Organizers also recognized the Rock Hill school district for its dropout prevention and reading recovery programs, as well as alternative education programs such as the Phoenix Academy.
 

$4 Million Grant for Literacy
UPENN Almanac - Philadelphia, PA
September 21, 2010

As a part of a $54 million Investing in Innovation federal grant, Penn GSE’s Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) will receive $4 million to evaluate the effectiveness of a national program aimed at strengthening literacy among struggling first-graders in underperforming schools.

Penn, along with 15 other universities involved in the project, is required to raise $9 million in matching funds, in order to secure the $45 million from the federal government.

Penn GSE faculty will collect and analyze extensive data on student performance, monitor the work of Reading Recovery teachers and track students’ long-term progress, as well as evaluate the implementation of the program in thousands of schools across the U.S.

Four faculty members from Penn GSE will evaluate the impact of scaling up the Reading Recovery program, a five-year project designed to provide long-term professional development for teachers who will work one-on-one for 30 minutes daily with young students to accelerate literacy development, enabling them to close the achievement gap. It targets reading problems when they first become apparent, and the goal is to help bring the students up to speed with their fellow students in 20 weeks.

Saint Mary's Kalmanovitz School of Education Receives $2.1 Million for Children's Reading Program
Saint Mary's College - Moraga, CA
September 21, 2010

MORAGA, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2010) Saint Mary's College has received $2.1 million through the U.S. Department of Education and private foundations to expand “Reading Recovery,” a teacher training and literacy intervention education program based at the Kalmanovitz School of Education and designed to address the needs of first grade students who are experiencing difficulty learning to read and write. The College is the only institution in California to receive the award.

School district receives $5,000 literacy grant
Williamsport Sun-Gazette - Williamsport, PA
September 13, 2010

Williamsport Area School District recently received a $5,000 grant through Verizon's "Check Into Literacy" program, which will help integrate interactive technology into its Reading Recovery instruction.

The district applied for the Verizon grant in order to buy the necessary equipment and supplies to provide Reading Recovery Training Site with current technologies that will be used to facilitate training, provide Reading Recovery Teachers with the latest research-based professional development on book selection for at risk readers and update student text collections that will offer cultural relevancy to students.

A reading culture
The Daily Citizen - Dalton, GA
by Rachel Brown
September 12, 2010

DALTON — When the electricity went out at Dalton Middle School recently, students in at least one seventh-grade science classroom knew exactly what to do.

Without any prodding, one by one they began opening one of the two to three books every student carries at any one time. The teacher followed suit.

“They’re not waiting on us to teach them anymore,” said Julie Stokes, a literacy coach who has worked at Dalton Middle for 14 years. “... (The Literacy Collaborative is) working for every single child, no matter how low or how high they come into us.”

The Literacy Collaborative is a school reform model from Lesley University that Dalton Public Schools has used since 2005. While its Reading Recovery program for first-graders tends to get the most attention, officials said it is actually a comprehensive framework for instilling literacy skills and a love of learning in students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

OCTOBER 2010

Reading plan brings 11,000 slow learners up to speed
New Zealand Herald - Auckland, New Zealand
by Elizabeth Binning
October 29, 2010

More than 11,000 children needed help with reading last year but by the end of their Reading Recovery programme, the majority were at the same level as the rest of their classmates.

The findings come from the Reading Recovery annual monitoring report which was released yesterday.

The early-intervention programme, in use since 1984, provides intensive, individual help to children who are falling behind in reading and writing after one-year at primary school.

Merrill first graders get special reading tutoring sessions
WSAU - Merrill, WI
October 19, 2010

MERRILL, Wis. (WSAU) – First graders in Merrill are getting some special reading lessons to help them catch up with their classmates.

The program is called Reading Recovery, and Administrator Rich Thwaits says the program is in place to help kids get that start in education that is so vital at an early age. “There's not a lot of difference there, but it's enough that some kids need just that little push to get them past the point of good reading skills.”

Thwaits says first graders in the lowest quartile of the class in reading get a special chance to learn to read one on one with teachers. Through it, students accelerate their reading development, enabling them to learn much more easily as they get older. “You're looking at the start of education, and students need these skills to succeed.”

Reading Recovery helps first-graders achieve success
Wausau Daily Herald - Wausau, WI
by Penny Antell
October 15, 2010

At D.C. Everest Area School District elementary schools, multiple interventions are provided to students who find learning to read and write a challenge. One of these interventions at the first-grade level is Reading Recovery. Specially trained teachers provide this intervention for the most needy first-grade students in the district.
 

Department of Education spotlights Columbus's Reading Recovery program
The Other Paper - Columbus, OH
October 13, 2010

U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Peter Cunningham will travel to Columbus, Ohio to spotlight the Reading Recovery program, an early literacy initiative recently awarded nearly $46 million through the Investing in Innovation Fund, and to provide keynote remarks at the Ohio Imagination Conversation on how innovation fits into the President's education reform initiatives.

NOVEMBER 2010

School exceeds or meets provincial reading, writing and math standards
Innisfil Scope - Ontario, Canada
by Chris Simon
November 24, 2010

In reading, writing and mathematics, Holy Cross is flying high above most other schools.

The Alcona Catholic elementary school recently received the results of Education Quality and Accountability Office standardized test scores for students in grades 3 and 6. And the results show teaching and study methods are paying off.

… “We prepare students all year," said principal Kirk Swales. "We approach that from Kindergarten right through Grade 3. What we have done, which might be slightly different than other schools, is really focus our special education and resource support on the primary grades. That pays dividends as the students move through the grades, because they're caught up and at grade level. There's a window of opportunity, research shows, between the ages of three and eight. Students will learn at a very fast rate; we want to capture that opportunity as much as possible."


TWU lands literacy training grant
Denton Record Chronicle - Denton, TX
by Rachel Mehlhaff
November 22, 2010

Texas Woman’s University received a $3.7 million federal grant to expand its literacy intervention teacher training program, Reading Recovery.

The nationwide program is aimed at helping first-graders who are having trouble learning to read and write.

The funds are part of a $46 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to Ohio State University and the 15 universities across the nation with Reading Recovery training centers.

Kudos for Channel 17 Education Series
Barnstable Register - Letter to the Editor - Yarmouth Port, MA
by Phil Wick
November 12, 2010

YARMOUTH PORT — To the Editor: Wow! Did I learn a lot last Thursday about the complexities of educating today’s children. I was watching the latest Dennis-Yarmouth Support Our Schools Channel 17 program called “Student Services” in its fall series. The series is highlighting essential programs and initiatives provided by teachers and staff in the Dennis-Yarmouth School District. The programs air on Mondays at 4 p.m. and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Currently airing through Nov. 18 is the program “Community Volunteers in the Schools.”

A highly successful reading recovery program enables first-graders with reading limitations to enter first grade with reading readiness. Students are carefully monitored during their early years. If it becomes apparent that a student needs additional help, “pullout” sessions are arranged. In other words, the student leaves the classroom for one-on-one instruction until such time he or she can comfortably re-enter the regular classroom. Similar intervention strategies can be utilized for any grade-level students.


A closer look at Reading Recovery, an Investing in Innovation Fund grant winner
Catalyst-Ohio.org - Columbus, OH
by Rachel Abbey
November 10, 2010

Earlier this year, Ohio State University and its partner universities across the country won a federal Investing in Innovation Fund scale-up grant for the Reading Recovery program. Smaller grants were awarded to programs that were thought to be promising, but the four, big scale-up grants were saved for those that had been around awhile and had proven themselves to some degree.

Reading Recovery identifies struggling first-grade readers and gives them a few months of daily one-on-one time with a specially trained teacher. At the end of the program, students are either caught up to their peers, their literacy problems found and worked through, or recommended for more extensive, on-going support. This is not a long-term program, and it happens at the local level, which makes training important. It’s this training that the more than $45 million Investing in Innovation grant will support over the next five years.

DECEMBER 2010

Whittier teacher's book chosen for publication
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City, IA
by Joanne Fox
December 12, 2010

Gennifer Paul-Fetterman has been teaching children for 11 years. She currently serves as a Reading Recovery teacher at Whittier Elementary instructor.

Now Paul-Fetterman is also a published author.