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Links in the chain of a reading recovery program.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

In order for a child's Reading Recovery program to be successful, there must be three links in the chain of support: the Reading Recovery teacher, the classroom teacher, and the parents. Four African American Children's experiences in a Reading Recovery program are viewed through the eyes of their teachers. Discussions of teacher interviews paint a picture for the reader of these children's experiences in Reading Recovery.

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If you look at her face ... if you just look at this child's face when the Reading Recovery teacher walks in, you know that there is something positive by the look of this child ... It's been said that in everybody's life, no matter what you are going through, if you have one person you can really rely upon to help you through that, it won't be as problematic. And I think Reading Recovery is that one thing ... that person is that one person that child can really rely upon.

These are the words of a first grade teacher about an African American girl in her class who goes to Reading Recovery. As I interviewed this teacher, it became apparent that she felt the child was getting something very special from this program, and that her Reading Recovery teacher was a very important part of the child's life. Talking to other teachers, I heard similar expressions of the importance of the program and the teachers involved. In this article, I describe five teachers' perceptions of four African American children in a Reading Recovery program. Qualitative methodology used in the study, included observations of Reading Recovery lessons, gathering of documents, and interviews with Reading Recovery teachers, classroom teachers, and a Teacher Leader. I used the constant comparative method of data analysis and triangulation of data through member check. In this article, I focus on the interviews with the teachers. I begin with a review of the literature related to Reading Recovery and qualitative research, followed by the procedures used during the study, and a discussion of the findings from the interviews and conclusions.

Review of Literature

Reading Recovery Reading Recovery is an intensive program designed by Marie Clay to target and remediate first-graders who are not reading on grade-level. According to Routman (2000), Reading Recovery is "a successful early-intervention program for first graders" (p. 112). Reading Recovery Report (1995) describes the program as "a set of research-based procedures that were found to reverse the failure cycle in most children in a relatively short period of time" (p. l). A teacher trained in Reading Recovery works for 10-20 weeks in a daily thirty-minute oneon-one situation with children who are identified as at risk of not learning to read in the first grade.

According to Pinnell (1990), the Reading Recovery program "focuses on strengths instead of deficits, immerses the child in reading and writing rather than drilling on skills and 'items' of knowledge, expects accelerated progress from the lowest achievers, and requires that the instructional program be adjusted to each child's needs and make the most of each child's strengths" (p. 161). The program is designed to compliment reading instruction in a regular classroom. Although some children are not successful at Reading Recovery, most children who have gone through the program perform at or above grade-level after exiting the program. Children for whom the program does not work are given alternative assistance (Cooper & Kiger, 2005).

Reading Recovery is based, according to Clay, on the following assumptions: (1) "a programme for a child having difficulty learning to read should be based on a detailed observation of that child as a reader and writer, with particular attention to what that child can do." and (2) "we need to know how children who become readers learn to read" and "how children who become writers learn to write" (Clay, 1993, p. 7). Clay asserts that knowing how children learn to read and write will help teachers assist those having difficulty learning to read and write. Gains made in Reading Recovery have occurred in an individualized setting. Clay states that one teacher working with one student is the best way to work with children having a hard time learning to read....

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