Reading Recovery
Use your materials (and especially the “Checklist of guidelines
for evaluating research and research claims.”) to critically examine the
following article.
Answer the embedded questions.
Emphasis in boldface and underline
is added.
Hints and questions are inserted
in brackets and boldface.
Reading
Recovery
http://www.lesley.edu/crr/rr_research.html
A Research-Based Intervention
Reading Recovery has a strong
scientific research base. [Means what?
Where is it?] Data collection and dissemination is carried out
by the Reading Recovery National Data Evaluation Center (NDEC) at The Ohio
State University. NDEC collects data from every Reading Recovery site in the United States
each year. [Is it a good idea for advocates
to collect data on themselves? Any possible problems from this?] NDEC provides technical results annually for
the United States
and sends results packets to be used by each school-based teacher training site
and university training center in evaluating the effectiveness of their
implementation of Reading Recovery. The raw data collected and disseminated by
NDEC also allows researchers at universities around the country to conduct
additional program evaluation and research.
- The
structure and design of Reading Recovery are consistent with a substantial body of research on reading and writing
behaviors that originated in the 1960s and continues today. [Whose research? You can always find (cherry pick) research
to support what you believe.]
- Reading
Recovery research uses systematic
and empirical methods to collect data annually on all children receiving the service. [Means
what?] Data are collected
systematically at three points throughout the school year (entry to
program, exit from program, and end of school year). [Is this often enough?]
Additionally, data are collected for comparison purposes at the beginning
and end of the school year on a random
sample of children who did not receive the intervention. [Size?
Where from?]
- Reading
Recovery uses systematic and simultaneous replication studies to document
program outcomes for all children served, adhering to standardized methods, instruments, and time lines across all schools, school
districts, training sites, and states. These studies show that the
replication of Reading Recovery across time and location has been
remarkably consistent. [Operational
definitions?]
Reading Recovery research is reported in numerous
peer-reviewed research articles or research reviews that offer support for
various aspects of Reading Recovery.
Adapted from "Reading
Recovery and the Definition of Scientifically Based Research," RRCNA Fact
Sheet; and Smith-Burke, M. et al. (2002). A Principal's
Guide to Reading
Recovery. Columbus, OH:
Reading
Recovery Council of North America.
Reading Recovery Student Outcomes:
2003-2004
During the 2002-2003 school year,
Reading Recovery served 4,207 struggling
first graders across Massachusetts.
[Means
what? Consistently defined?] These
children were taught by 522 highly
trained Reading
Recovery teachers, [Means what ? Consistently defined?] who were in turn supported by 20 Teache r Leaders across the
state. The Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative provides
ongoing training, professional development and support to these Teacher
Leaders. [Means what? Consistently defined?]
The extensive training and professional development Reading
Recovery teachers and Teacher Leaders receive translates into results for
Reading Recovery children. Of the 4,207 children who participated in the
intervention in Massachusetts
in the 2003-2004 school year, over 60% of them successfully completed the intervention,
having reached average levels of
literacy performance. [Is the
average level a definition of success? Average for what? A class? School? District? What if the average is poor reading? Should there be an external standard or
criterion for “success”?] Of the
children who had the opportunity
to receive a full program of instruction (up to 20 weeks), nearly 80% completed
the program successfully. [What does ‘had the opportunity’ mean? Were some dropped? If so, were they students who were NOT being
successful? If so, does this bias the
outcome data?] These are impressive results for children who started
the year as the lowest-achieving children in their class and had an average
text reading level (TRL) of 1. [Are
the results impressive if children who were NOT making progress were dropped?]
Successfully completed children were able to return to a
mainstream classroom, where they continued
to make progress independently in the areas of reading and writing. [Means what?] These children ended
first grade with an average TRL of 19, a virtually indistinguishable score from
that of a random sample of non-Reading Recovery children in Reading
Recovery schools. This outcome shows amazing growth, considering where
these children began first grade. [Extraneous variables? Not mentioned. These children were also
receiving instruction in class. Some may
have had home tutoring. Effects of these?]
Even children who were recommended for additional assessment and those
that received only a partial intervention showed significant growth, reaching
text reading levels of 10 and 11, respectively.
Longer Term Effectiveness of Reading
Recovery: Results on Standardized Tests
As a data driven education program, Reading Recovery research
takes place on an ongoing basis at universities across the country. Recent
studies have examined the longer-term effectiveness of Reading Recovery by
tracking the performance of former Reading Recovery children on standardized
tests. Researchers at Lesley
University have looked at
student results on the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), .
[Measures what? Does it measure exactly and only what RR
teaches? If not, then passing may have
nothing to do with RR.] finding that former
Reading Recovery children pass the state-mandated standardized test at higher rates than the overall
student population. [Is the RR sample representative
of the overall population? What if there
are a higher percentage of poor kids in the overall population than in RR? How would this affect that finding?] To
read the study, click here.
A study of children in Holyoke,
MA, conducted by Massachusetts
Teacher Leader Laurel Dickey, finds similar results to the statewide MCAS
research study. Reading Recovery children pass the third grade MCAS exam at
higher rates than the district as a whole. To read the press release, click
here /crr/content/rr/holyoke_mcas_news.doc.
Such longer-term findings have been duplicated across the
country. In a study of Reading Recovery students in Upstate New York, for instance,
former Reading Recovery children were found to perform similarly to 4th graders across the state of New York on the 4th
grade test of English Language Arts. [RR is in first grade. Kids had 2 more years of classroom reading
instruction before they got to grade 4.
How can performance in grade 4 be attributed to RR in grade one?] Download
the complete article here /crr/content/rr/jrr_article_spring_04.pdf.
Researchers at Emporia State University
in Kansas
have examined the performance of former Reading Recovery students on the
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, a nationally recognized test of literacy skills.
The study (http://www.rrcna.org/pdfs/Reading_Recovery_in_Kansas.pdf)
concludes that the effect of Reading Recovery lasts at least through fourth
grade. [Again,
RR is in first grade. Kids had 2 more
years of classroom reading instruction before they got to grade 4. How can performance in grade 4 be attributed
to RR in grade one?] Scholars at the University of Iowa
have also conducted research to examine the longer term effectiveness of the
program and come to similarly positive conclusions. Using the Iowa Test of
Basic Skills (ITBS), researchers found lasting effects among former Reading
Recovery students. To read a summary of the Iowa study, click here. Reading
Recovery has also been cited as the
primary reason for such high rates of passing among fourth graders on Maine's state-mandated
standardized test, as reported in an October 2003 article in the Bangor News. [Is a citation good
evidence?]
Closing the Achievement Gap
Using statewide data from the 2002-2003 school year, we conducted research on the impact of Reading
Recovery on first graders from various racial, ethnic, and gender groups.
We found that Reading Recovery was highly successful across all
groups, and by the end of first grade, successful Reading Recovery children looked no
different than their average performing peers. [Again success is defined by becoming
average. What if the average is low. Is that success? If an intervention is “highly
effective,” shouldn’t performance be higher than average?] Sadly by the
spring, we began to see ethnic and gender achievement gaps developing among
average performers, where they had not existed in the fall. To read the full
study, click here /crr/content/rr/achievement_gap_complete_ms.doc .
This research was presented at the 2004 Literacy For
All Northeast K-6 Literacy Conference and Reading Recovery Institute, held in Providence, Rhode
Island. To view the presentation, click here /crr/content/rr/narrowing_the_literacy_divide.ppt .
It is currently under journal Review.
Reading
Recovery and English Language Learners
Through a generous grant from the Reading Recovery Council of
North America, we were able to study the effectiveness of Reading Recovery on
English Language Learners versus native English speakers on both Reading
Recovery and non-Reading Recovery measures. Examining the linguistically
diverse district of Fall River, Massachusetts,
we found that the intervention tended
to work [Would you use medicine that “tended to work”?] as well for
English Language Learners as for native speakers. To read the full study, click
here /crr/content/rr/ell_journal_write_up.doc .
This research was presented at the 2005 Massachusetts Reading Association's
Annual Conference and is currently under journal review.
The Cost-Savings of Reading Recovery
Although the effectiveness of Reading Recovery is rarely disputed, [How
many articles are critical? Are they
merely ignored?] the cost of the intervention
has frequently arisen as a factor in a school district's decision on whether or
not to use Reading Recovery, given the extensive teacher training, professional
development, and one-to-one nature of the intervention. A study of the Boston school district
finds that the special education costs avoided because of Reading
Recovery more than justify the costs of the intervention. To read the
study, click here /crr/content/rr/cost_savings_complete.doc.
This research was presented at the 2005 Leadership
Academy and Teacher Leader Institute
in Washington, D.C. To view the presentation, click here /crr/content/rr/cost_savings.ppt .
[RR is used in grade one. If
some students struggle in grade one, does this mean that THEY need remedial
instruction or that the reading curriculum is probably not well-designed? Should this be tested before reading
difficulties are attributed to children and not instruction? Should RR researchers consider this
alternative explanation?]