Reading Recovery Effectiveness: A Five-Year Success Story in San Luis Coastal Unified School District

Background
Brown, Denton, Kelly, and Neal used two standardized tests to assess California students’ continuing achievement through fifth grade. Researchers measured achievement of 760 students who were served in Reading Recovery between 1993 and 1998. Student performance in second through fifth grades was assessed using the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition.

Findings
The authors reported that “more than three-fourths of the children who successfully completed Reading Recovery achieved standardized test scores in the average or above average range” (p. 10). Considering that these Reading Recovery students began at the bottom of their class in first grade, their subsequent progress through fifth grade was impressive.

This abstract first appeared in What Evidence Says About Reading Recovery. (2002). Columbus, OH: Reading Recovery Council of North America.