Reading Recovery in the News - October 2008

District 205 students score lower than 2007 tests
Galesburg Register-Mail - Galesburg, IL
October 31, 2008

GALESBURG – Galesburg District 205 elementary students overall scored lower on this year’s Illinois Standards Achievement Test in 2007, but most scores are still well above the state average. …District officials are pleased with the scores, saying the high levels of achievement are indicative of hard-working parent, teachers and students. They are also happy that, despite ever-increasing levels of poverty, students are meeting and exceeding academic standards more each year. …A high level of parental involvement at all six elementary schools, nearly 100 percent across the board, is one thing which [Superintendent Joel] Estes points to as contributing to student success. The district’s first-grade Reading Recovery program also helped raise reading scores, as many students who need assistance are receiving it early enough to get up to grade level by the time they are tested.
 

One-to-one makes all the difference when teaching children to read
Independent - London, England, UK
October 30, 2008

Alicia, 7, is reading Father Bear Goes Fishing. "Here – comes – a – fish – he – shouted." With her finger inching along the words, she ploughs through the whole book – a minor miracle considering that a few weeks ago, after a year in school, she was not reading at all.

Even more impressive is that she is enjoying it and tackling problems with confidence. Alicia's teacher, Joy Matthews, says to her: "I loved how you went back and checked when you said 'I'm' instead of 'I am'. Good looking!"
 

School news
Daily Press - Newport News, VA
October 24, 2008

Achievements
•Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools Superintendent Gary Mathews has presented W-JCC's Reading Recovery team with the Superintendent's Starfish Award for achieving the highest rate of success since the program began in 1993. The team increased struggling readers' success by 50 percent during last school year. Team members are DeVeria Gore, Vicky Shaw, Christine Barton, Beth Hagy, Natalie Santabar, Daphne Goodrich, Judith Valdivielso, Lara Lansford, Ellen Turner, Trish Kline, Laura Burton, Heather Judson, Linda Reams, Cindy Macomber, Lisa Holston, Sue Scherling, Jane Van Dyke, Beverly Hathaway and Valerie Way.

•Judith Valdivielso, a Reading Recovery teacher at James River Elementary School, was recently awarded $1,000 from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center for being selected at the center's Teacher of the Year. The money will be used to provide and improve learning opportunities at the school. Valdivielso was selected based on her professional contributions to the school.

Reading Recovery celebrates 10 years
Worthington Daily Globe - Worthington, MN
by Laura Grevas
October 16, 2008

WORTHINGTON — “Tell her,” said Reading Recovery teacher Amy Oberloh, “about the girl at the computer.”

“Last year, there was a child I worked with, and the parents were illiterate,” recounted teacher Joan Phillips. “She didn’t go to preschool, and she began kindergarten very low, struggling,” “She qualified for the Reading Recovery program and really took off, did a wonderful job, and then we invited parents to come in. She went over to the computer and showed her dad how she could read a book and take a test on that book. And I think he was just like ‘Wow, my daughter is reading,’ and just so proud of her.”

The Reading Recovery teachers at Prairie Elementary School are celebrating the program’s 10-year anniversary this year. And they say there are many more success stories for the initiative that aims to help first-graders who have fallen behind in reading.
 

Video
Reading Recovery at Prairie Elementary
Worthington Daily Globe - Worthington, MN
10/15/08

Teachers discuss the Reading Recovery program at Prairie Elementary.

West Elementary teacher learns to bridge the gap between languages
West Liberty Index - West Liberty, IA
by Sara Sedlacek
October 15, 2008

Iowa legislators introduced a bill that will fund training for 5 Descubriendo la Lectura teachers in the state. Descubriendo la Lectura is the reconstruction of Reading Recovery for Spanish speaking children. Marciana Tharp, a Reading Recovery teacher at West Elementary, is the first Iowa teacher to train in Descubriendo la Lectura.

Reading Recovery Award
Evanston Roundtable - Evanston, IL
October 15, 2008

Connie Obrochta, literacy coach at Washington School, was awarded one of six national $15,000 scholarships from the Reading Recovery Council of North America's Teacher Leader Scholarship Awards funded by Deluxe Corporation Foundation.

The scholarship is to be applied toward a year of training at National-Louis University, where Ms. Obrochta will train as a Reading Recovery teacher leader.

Ready, set, read
Running records help teachers evaluate students’ reading skills
Journal-Advocate - Sterling, CO
by Callie Jones
October 14, 2008

STERLING — As students develop their reading skills, it’s important to see if they are making growth with their reading skills and one way to do that is by doing running records. Teachers at Campbell Elementary School participated in a running records training on Monday, led by Margaret Clark, reading recovery teacher trainer for RE-1 Valley School District.
 

Special efforts pay off at East Elementary
Desert Valley Times - St. George, UT
By Alyson Van Deusen
October 1, 2008

ST. GEORGE - While the week may have gotten off to an ordinary start for most students, Monday was an especially good day for East Elementary School.

The school achieved its adequate yearly progress, or AYP, for No Child Left Behind Act testing for the 2007-2008 academic year.

We're about best practices regardless of the way the wind blows," Principal Joseph Eckman said Tuesday.

Eckman said there are many reasons why his Title I school achieved so much last year.

"If there's anything close to magic, it's reading recovery," he said while sitting at this desk.