A popular reading-intervention program in New Zealand that is also used in the United States is proving to be “very useful,” especially for students considered academically at risk, a study has found.
“Reading Recovery in New Zealand: Uptake, Implementation, and Outcomes, Especially in Relation to Maori and Pasifika Students” is available from the New Zealand Ministry of Education.
The study of Reading Recovery, conducted for the New Zealand Ministry of Education by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, is based on student data, a survey of principals, focus groups with teachers, and eight case studies.
Reading Recovery provides intensive one-on-one tutoring and ongoing assessment of reading skills until the students’ proficiency improves or the intervention is deemed to be not working. But some reading experts in the United States criticize the program as being too costly to address large-scale reading disabilities in struggling schools in this country.
