What Effects Does Reading Recovery Have on Student Learning Research Paper

What Effects Does Reading Recovery Have on Student Learning - Research Paper Example This paper seeks to explore what effects Reading Recovery has on student learning with special reference to the significance of reading recovery intervention and the various approaches employed by specialist instructors. Definition of Reading Recovery: Reading Recovery is understood as a supplementary education program for the lowest-achieving first-grade children. For Dr. Marie Clay, reading is â€Å"a message-getting, problem-solving activity which increases in power and flexibility the more it is practiced† and â€Å"that within the directional constraints of the printer’s cue, language and visual perception responses are purposefully directed by the reader in some integrated way to the problem of extracting meaning from cues in a text, in sequence, so that the reader brings a maximum of understanding to the author’s message† (Clay, 1991, p. 6). As the quotation makes it clear, the first grade learner should be trained to acquire the message behind the reading process and it is the duty of the instructor to identify the stumbling blocks before the learner and to help him for problem solution. Goal and specifics of Reading Recovery: According to Wilson and Daviss, â€Å"the goal of Reading Recovery is to dramatically reduce the number of first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to reduce the cost of these learners to educational systems† (Reading Recovery: Basic Facts 2010). For this, it is essential that the instructors identify the right lowest-achieving first graders and entrust them to a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher who is able to build their confidence level and enable them to work independently in the regular classroom. The selected students are offered a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher and their lessons are discontinued as soon as the teacher feels