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Teaching Literacy in a Virtual World

Teaching Literacy in a Virtual World

Blog Author2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00May 22nd, 2020|Classroom Teaching, Latest News, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Kathleen A. Brown

Three words come to mind as I think about my experiences and the experiences of my colleagues during this extraordinary time: Resilience, Reflection, and Resetting.

Resilience
Resilience defined by Merriam Webster is an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. The Reading Recovery teachers in my district went from conducting lessons in a school setting to virtual lessons in a matter of a week. Overnight, they had to re-imagine how to provide literacy support to their students in a virtual world. Feet first and with big hearts they jumped into the work. Although there was a steep learning curve with using technology to provide literacy support, collaboratively they worked around the clock to reach the most needy and vulnerable, our Reading Recovery students and their families. While we understood that these were literacy support not traditional one on one lessons, we worked collaboratively with our University Training Center at Saint Mary’s College of California for direction and guidance.

Fortunately, our district provided laptops to all students to participate in online learning opportunities. The Reading Recovery teachers went above and beyond to ensure families had access to the internet and provided countless hours of support in getting families set up for distance learning. In addition, literacy materials were picked up at school sites, mailed home, or delivered directly to the students’ homes. We fondly called the delivery to a home a “Teacher Dash.” Students and their families were so grateful and appreciative of the efforts being made to keep literacy learning going. Teachers were also thrilled to connect with students again, even if it had to be done virtually.

The sudden school closures lead to a range of emotions for our students, their families, and our teachers. Teachers often felt uncomfortable, stressed, and unsure about teaching using technology. There were days of frustration and tears. There were also days of gratitude and celebration as things were coming together and lessons were running much smoother.

Through the ups and downs, high and lows, laughter and tears, we have become stronger and more resilient as teachers and as a collective group. Like our students, we have learned to push the boundaries of our own knowledge and learning to provide literacy support in a virtual world. As one Reading Recovery student said during a literacy support lesson, “I am happy you are still helping me with my reading. When I see you for real, I am going to give you a giant hug.”

Reflection
Reflection is a common practice in Reading Recovery. Therefore, it was not out of the ordinary when my teachers and I started reflecting on our teaching and student engagement during online learning. As defined by Merriam Webster, reflection is a thought, idea, or opinion formed or a remark made as a result of meditation. We continued to meet as a group of Reading Recovery educators to refine our theory and practice related to early literacy teaching and learning. In our virtual on-going professional development sessions, many AHA moments surfaced, which caused us to step back and rethink our interactions with students, our expectations, and preconceived notions about student learning.

We discovered our students are more resilient and independent than we thought. To start with, students adjusted to being at home and away from their teachers and friends, and that was hard. Next, students quickly learned how to use technology, the language of technology, and be prepared to be on time and online for daily literacy support lessons. It is amazing to think we are talking about first graders.

Our relationships with students and their families have changed for the better. Parents have become true partners in this new method of teaching and learning. Beyond the academics, parents opened up about their worries and struggles. As teachers we became a conduit of information, support, and comfort. Having a virtual window into our students and their lives opened our eyes to see them differently and to appreciate those differences.

Reading
Collectively we noticed that students were able to orient themselves to new texts with minimal teacher support. Students were not afraid to pick up a new book or try one out digitally. This is what Marie Clay meant when she stated, “Acceleration is achieved as the child takes over the learning process and works independently, discovering new things for himself inside and outside the lessons.” Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, page 20. Students were also demonstrating a variety of ways to figure out unknown words on their own, without teacher prompting or demonstration. “The aim is to have him know about how words work and be able to use this awareness while reading and while writing.” Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, page 155. We were astonished by our student’s independence and risk taking while reading novel texts.

Writing
Another discovery is how much more independent students are in writing in a virtual setting. Due to the mere fact there is a screen between the teacher and student, we were not able to physically get in their way, over-scaffold, or be overly involved in the construction of the story. Students were taking more risks in solving new words, not waiting for the teacher to tell them how to solve the words, and writing in longer phrases. These observations mirror what Marie Clay said about students when they become more independent in writing. “Towards the end of the lesson series children will usually be composing on the run, probably writing one sentence, then composing another and writing it, and so on, much the way they would work in the classroom.” Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, page 82

Listening and Speaking
Children are naturally social, and learning is a social experience. During daily literacy support lessons, students were overflowing with things to say and share with us. We were a captive audience peering at the screen and listening to language spill out.

One day, a student I was teaching came with an object to show me and tell me about. This soon became a daily routine. He especially liked showing me and talking about his Lego creations. He was particularly fond of his pirate ship, “The Black Pearl.” From our conversations, he used words like cannons, mast, swords, curse, battle, captain, sailors, etc. Our elaborate conversations turned into descriptive and complex stories. Although I was the teacher (captain), I let my student (pirate) take me on a journey that led to grand conversations and complex written stories, which in turn became his favorite stories to read. I noticed once I loosened up on the wheel, put my own agenda aside, and followed the child, it was smooth sailing.

“Just as a listener tunes in to a speaker, so a teacher must observe, listen to and tune in to a learner. Being sensitive to the child’s thinking allows the teacher to draw his attention to many things. Create opportunities for him to talk and to talk more. Any child with limited language skills needs more opportunities to talk.” Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, page 31.

As we all eagerly await the day when we can sit next to our students again, we have learned many lessons along the way:

Children are more independent than we think they are.
Children easily adapt to new situations and learning settings.
Children are pushing the boundaries of their learning in a virtual world
As teachers, we have a better understanding and appreciation for students, their families, and their life outside of school.
As teachers, we have learned to find a way to reach our students, no matter what the path or method.
As teachers we have learned to rely on each other and build upon each other’s strengths.
As teachers, we have learned to step back, observe more, and wait an extra second or two before intervening or providing scaffolding.

These lessons learned will inform our teaching just as the lessons we had taught previously informed our virtual instruction.

Resetting
Moving forward, we are trying to envision what teaching will be like in the Fall. Will we be sitting next to our students or looking at them through the computer screen? Putting that aside, how will we take the lessons learned during this unprecedented time of teaching and learning and fold them into our daily practice.

Merriam Webster defines resetting as to set again or anew. We must not forget what we have learned about our students, their families, and ourselves as teachers. How do we harness this new learning when we return to our school buildings? The Aha moments are significant. They serve as a catalyst in changing our mindset about student learning and how we teach our students.

Marie Clay asks us to think about change over time in our work with students. On page 44 of Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, she states, “To encourage teachers to think about the changes they need to make in their teaching – adjusting expectations and interactions over time according to the progress of each learner.”

As we reset or renew our commitment to teaching our readers and writers, who struggle the most, let us not forget what the children have taught us during this unusual time in our careers and education. Reading Recovery teachers are uniquely positioned to think through what we are learning while learning from this virtual world of teaching. Let us continue to be resilient, reflective, and reset when necessary for our most precious gift: our children, our future.

Kathleen A. Brown has worked in the field of education for 35 years as a teacher, literacy specialist, and Reading Recovery teacher; serving as the Reading Recovery teacher leader in Long Beach Unified School District for the last 20 years. She provides early literacy training for the district and serves on a variety of early intervention / early literacy committees.

Roaming Around the Unknown in the Wake of COVID-19

Roaming Around the Unknown in the Wake of COVID-19

Carissa Hershey2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00April 22nd, 2020|Latest News, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Amy Smith

As I saw Drew’s cheerful face staring at me through my computer screen, I took a deep breath and thought, ”What do I know that might help me here?”. I knew it wasn’t possible to replicate a lesson, but I didn’t have time to ruminate, reflect, or research the situation. Like thousands of children, Drew was waiting for me to teach him something. But, how and where would I start?

I found guidance in a conversation with my colleague, Jeff Williams, in which we discussed the challenge of relinquishing control and the security of the standard lesson framework. While there is no guide sheet to tell us precisely how to address this, Jeff and I thought about how the principles of Roaming apply to this unfamiliar context. Indeed, Dr. Clay taught us that our starting point for our journey is Roaming and our goals are to promote confidence, ease, flexibility, and with luck, discovery. So, with those things in mind, I started down a new path with Drew.

Confidence, Ease, and Flexibility
Dr. Clay taught us to begin with the known. While we usually use the term to reference what a child knows or controls, in this context, it applies to me as a teacher. In my first online lesson with Drew, the only thing I felt sure of was familiar reading. Even though I wasn’t beside him, I knew I could listen to how the reading sounded and observe the actions he took at difficulty. I was intrigued by the realization the computer screen gave me a different lens as an observer. From that vantage point, I could see his eyes clearly, and was delighted by only one instance of the “eyes off text” habit he worked so hard to overcome. Perhaps more extraordinary, I noticed his facial reactions to the story, something I couldn’t see in the side view. His smiles and smirks revealed his delight in recounting the experiences of these characters. So, instead of launching into a teaching point, I began to talk with him about the stories; and more crucially, to really, really, listen.

In the midst of that book discussion, he said, “It’s not really a great ending.” I suggested we write a new one, together. Although I’ve used that technique many times, it was always constrained by time. While writing always includes conversation, composition, and transcription, the bulk of writing time in lessons is spent on transcription. My pragmatic decision to focus on conversation and composition, aspects that are easier to control virtually, had a payoff. In the end, we generated not one, but two alternative endings. While sharing a Google Doc on my screen, I typed both endings, pausing to allow him to clap and articulate words and offer a few letters and letter clusters. While he was not recording his story in the traditional sense, this off-the-cuff process addressed the most important aspect of why we write, to compose a meaningful message. I shared the Google Doc with his mom and asked him to choose his favorite version and practice reading it with expression. He shared it with me at the beginning of the next lesson. It did not surprise me that he chose the version where James fessed up to his crimes, as that’s very much the type of child Drew is.

In addition to exploring new ways of generating conversations and composing stories, I’ve allowed myself more freedom to read to Drew. He loves being read to, and yet, I almost never do this outside of Roaming. And honestly, I’m probably much too tentative about doing it even then. However, reading higher-level texts to him and engaging in more elucidated book discussions has provided space for robust comprehension conversations. An added bonus, many conversations have resulted in complex, episodic stories we’ve later constructed in writing.

This situation has also forced me to relinquish some control over selecting books for Drew. Thanks to Pioneer Valley Books making their digital collection available at no cost to schools, I have been able to choose new books and give Drew a library of choices he can make on his own. His selections revealed a passion for non-fiction texts that I hadn’t recognized. Giving him that freedom has also opened up opportunities to explore content-area vocabulary in a way I hadn’t in lessons. Most recently, a non-fiction book about dolphins led to a more involved exploration of squid than I ever dreamed I would engage in as a Reading Recovery teacher. And, although a divergence from my typical path, it was time well spent (and, quite interesting).

Making Discoveries About Drew and About Myself
Although I knew Drew before this crisis, I’ve learned things about him that were hidden at school. For instance, his outfit of choice is one of his many onesies, each bearing personal significance to him. I also now know that when he watches his favorite shows, he brings a related figurine or stuffed animal to the living room so they can enjoy it together. Further, he has a vast collection of Power Ranger masks and headgear that he’s modeled and described in detail. In fact, we’ve turned this into a game in which we surprise each other with a new hat, mask, or headband in each lesson. We plan to turn our gallery of pictures into a book, whenever this is over.

Since talking is the easiest thing to do online, I’ve also thought about ways to maximize language, both in terms of building oral language and harnessing his language to construct understanding. Thus, we start each lesson with a quick interview, each of us coming prepared with one question to ask each other. In addition to learning about our morning routines, favorite colors, and the funniest thing about our Dads, he has practiced formulating questions for specific purposes, asking follow-up questions aimed at new learning, and responding to questions in complete sentences. As a teacher, these interviews have taught me a lot about Drew as a person. It has also made me think much more about the role of oral language in literacy learning, how to engage children in active conversations, and how to give our students agency for thinking and learning.

At a glance, these activities (e.g., hats, interviews) might seem gimmicky or inconsequential. I actually think they reflect some of what I’ve learned about the link between emotion and cognition from both Dr. Clay and Carol Lyons. Maybe, this new context has given me more clarity on that link. Usually, I focus on the need to ensure my child is comfortable and confident. Now, I am simultaneously building my child’s and my own confidence. Using these techniques gives me a fun and easy way to begin each lesson; starting with something easy makes the harder parts much less stressful for me, as a teacher.

Roaming as a Metaphor and Guide for this Experience
Together with our children, we are all roaming around in unfamiliar territory. In the last few weeks, Drew and I have grown more confident about working together online. Things that were initially hard (e.g., whiteboard feature) are now automatic for both of us. By letting ourselves deviate from our lesson framework and work together as though we are roaming, we’ve freed ourselves from stress, put the really hard parts aside, and focused on the ones we can do right now.

Most importantly, we have made a vast number of discoveries together. I have no idea if any of this is what Dr. Clay envisioned when she used the word “discovery” but I have discovered much about myself as a teacher and Drew as a learner. I realize, now, that there is power in being forced out of our comfort zones from time to time. In some ways, it gives us a better sense of our children’s perspectives as learners. This is scary and we are tentative, just like so many of our children when they come to us. And, while none of us know what will happen next, Dr. Clay’s work prepares us to respond to idiosyncratic paths. In the end, it is our charge to be flexible, to build on the known, to observe and respond, and to change course at any point. I hope (and believe) she would be proud of the myriad of ways we are all working toward that end.

Dr. Amy Smith is a Reading Recovery teacher leader in Richmond, KY. She currently serves as RRCNA’s President-Elect has served as chair of the Advocacy Committee.

We Teach, What is Your Superpower?

We Teach, What is Your Superpower?

Kimberly Reynolds2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00April 1st, 2020|Classroom Teaching, Latest News, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Kim Reynolds

Every time I walk into my colleague’s classroom, I look up to one of my favorite signs: “I teach, what is your superpower?”

As I started roaming with my second-round student, Emily, in February, I looked to Marie Clay to guide me. She reminds us, this is when the “Child and teacher have an opportunity to get to know each other and to develop useful ways of interacting.” When Emily shared that she loved Wonder Woman, I asked her to tell me more. Emily said Wonder Woman can fly. She can save people. I look like Wonder Woman. It was ironic because right after we wrote this together, the whole world came crashing down around us. The Pandemic was here and we were all feeling weak, vulnerable, and apprehensive of what was yet to come. Our superpowers were being drained.

During the next few weeks, we started to navigate our way through the unknown. As we began this new, very rocky journey, we had the support of our amazing districts and our university training center, The Ohio State University. It was extremely overwhelming, but it was so helpful to find comfort in our administrators, trainers, and colleagues.

Using our technology, we were able to connect and collaborate with one another locally and nationally. On one of our Zoom calls, Dr. Lisa Pinkerton shared her analogy of the Pandemic to chapter 6 in Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals: Adjusting teaching for particular difficulties. I thought that this was a brilliant way to relate what we know to this new and unknown time. Clay still comforts us during these challenging times: “You are likely to have some blind spots in these areas, and the opinions of colleagues could be most useful for adjusting your teaching. It has been one of the values of the professional development sessions that teachers have been able to pool their wisdom on their most puzzling students.” This can also be used when thinking about our current and upcoming challenges.

After a week of trying our best to collaborate, navigate, problem-solve and basically survive within our own districts, our Reading Recovery Teacher Leader colleagues were able to come together for our online “therapy”. We needed a forum to share our worries, concerns, and challenges. Our biggest concerns were for our students. The minute we met, we were already brainstorming and problem-solving how to emotionally support, thoughtfully collaborate and carefully facilitate reading and writing opportunities for our students. We left the session with a tentative plan, a network of amazing contacts and friends, and the faith that together we would make it through this. Hoda Kotbe’s book, I Really Needed This Today, is a favorite read before I go to sleep. She quoted Mandy Hale, “Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” Together…anything is possible.

I think back to my limited, but precious time that I initially had with Emily, which likely will no longer be in person. In that short time, she taught me some amazing life skills. During this challenging and uncertain time, we all need to embrace our superpowers… bravery, strength, and the ability to make a difference on a daily basis, no matter how small. Collaboratively, we teach, what is your superpower?

Kim Reynolds is a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader with Dublin City Schools in Dublin, Ohio.

The Road Trip

The Road Trip

Blog Author2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00March 17th, 2020|Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary|

by Lynn Newmyer

Every summer my husband and I look forward to choosing a destination, packing up the car and heading into a wonderful week of both wandering and purpose. We choose to have a plan but allow for the discovery of new places along the way.

Each school year, I challenge myself to learn something new to improve my practice. Much like my summer road trip, I choose an area to explore, gather my resources and ready myself to build on what I know while being open to discovering new things.

During the summer as I was doing some professional reading, I came upon a very intriguing quote. “If you want to truly understand something, try to change it.” (Bryk, Gomez, Grunnow, LeMahieu 2015) I am by no means an expert on the disciplined work put forth in the professional book in my hands, however, I felt that I could study what I wanted to improve and then consider what I could change that might have a positive impact on my students’ learning.

Dr. Mary Lose, our trainer at Oakland University, had been working with the Teacher Leader group on how we could increase teachers’ understandings of what it means for a child to know a word before putting it on the Weekly Writing Vocabulary Chart. I started wondering if what I was recording as known, was really known by my students. The following are reflections of what I learned while working with two of my students.

Clay states that “A child’s writing vocabulary consists of the words he or she knows in every detail and produces easily without help plus any new word he or she can construct correctly using existing strategies and knowledge.” (Clay 2001)

A key understanding is that ‘known’ is not as simple as ‘known’ and ‘not known’. Being more aware in order for a letter or a word to be known, there are two journeys that words and letters may take from new to known with degrees of known and from slow to fast production. (Clay 2001, Clay 2016)

Now it was time to change my practice. What if I paid closer attention at the beginning of the series of lessons for each of my students and noticed not just if they knew a word but how well they knew a word?

I decided to do a writing spree at designated points and notice if words were prompted or unprompted, fast or slow, correct or partially correct.

In addition, I planned to intentionally provide opportunities across the lesson for students to learn how to learn a word.
Discoveries using planned writing sprees were insightful. My students were engaged in the challenge of being able to visibly see what they could write and how many words were coming under their control. More words were written unprompted and were correct or nearly correct. If a prompt was given, the students started generating more of their own words.

Another surprise was the intensity of the students’ concern to get the words just right during the second writing spree.

Each student was beginning to monitor and self-correct their words. They crossed out some of their words and tried again. They were paying close attention to the details of print especially their letter formation and students used what was practiced to self -correct their attempts.

Changes in my learning, deeper understandings, and my teaching caused me to notice the following:
• Increase in known and easily produced words seemed to link to an increase in text level, but not always.
• Teaching for a writing vocabulary consistently resulted in an increased writing vocabulary. Intentionality and persistence was critical.
• Frequent writing sprees seemed to send a message to the students that this was important so more words were learned early on.
• Knowing what each student knew such as quick letter formation or partially known words or word parts contributed to ease of learning new words.

Every journey is an important one as the students I teach and their needs dictate which road trip is next.

Clay reminds us, “Every interaction in the daily writing segment is a teaching move – not a memory task, nor a practice attempt, nor an analysis of sounds, but carefully determined and astutely delivered teaching with a target that involves learning how to do something, do it better, do it faster, link it up to something, and prepare it for future independent use.” (Clay 2001)

References
Bryk, A.S., Gomez, L.M., Grunow, A., LeMahieu (2015) Learning to Improve How America’s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press
Clay, M. (2001) Change Over Time in Children’s Literacy Development Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. (2016) Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Second Edition, The Marie Clay Literacy Trust Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Lynn Newmyer is a Reading Recovery teacher leader from Walled Lake, MI.

It’s All About Expertise

It’s All About Expertise

Carissa Hershey2023-02-08T18:10:10-05:00January 30th, 2020|Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Debra Zarling

Where do you go for help when you have a serious medical issue? Or when your car has a major breakdown? Or a pipe bursts in your home? Like many people, you might first try fixing things yourself but if the issue is significant you will likely need to consult an expert. We are currently embroiled in an era of renewed attacks on teachers and their expertise. Recent headlines have questioned the ability of teachers to teach children to read. Across the country, legislators are becoming more apt to pass legislation about the teaching of reading that does not reflect what the weight of research says and fails to honor the expertise of teachers.

The current attacks primarily appear to be focused on the role of phonics in learning to read but they also question the knowledge and expertise of teachers and in turn, may sometimes cause us to question our own judgment and capabilities. Nowhere is this truer than when working with students at risk of not being successful readers and writers.

Reading Recovery has not been immune to these assaults and recent posts on this blog have taken on some of those attacks about the research on which Reading Recovery is based (see recent posts by Williams and Schwartz). These ongoing challenges to teachers and their expertise have led some to question themselves, not in a way that encourages them to collaborate with colleagues and problem-solve the situation but in a way that causes them to question themselves and their ability to meet student needs. While it is good to regularly evaluate our instruction to determine whether what we are doing is working best for this student at this time, we need to rely on our expertise and the expertise of our colleagues to help us find the answers when the learning is not progressing. Others expect us to look to programs or products as holding the answers. Programs can provide content, perhaps a suggested scope and sequence but they can’t provide the expert knowledge of how to teach or how to be responsive to the individual needs of a child. As Scanlon illustrates, many programs are based on research, at least to some degree, but relatively few have any actual research supporting the actual effectiveness of the program. Her research and that of many others (Allington, 2002; Bryk, Hanushek, 2015; May 2016) confirms that the teacher matters more than programs.

Expertise doesn’t come from training in a particular program. A common criticism of programmed materials is that the more dependent teachers become on them, the less able those teachers are in differentiating and responding to student needs. At times, teachers themselves exacerbate the problem by downplaying their own expertise. When asked about the needs of a student, especially one who comes with a ‘label,’ they may downplay their own expertise, forgetting that a label doesn’t eliminate the need for expert, diagnostic teaching.

In an era where we see increasing recommendations for the use of scripted materials and computer programs for teaching and intervention, Reading Recovery stands out for its reliance on teacher expertise. There is no program, kit, or script that can be purchased, and no one profits financially from the intervention. Rather, the focus is on the initial and ongoing development of teacher expertise.

The online Cambridge dictionary defines expertise as “a high level of skill or knowledge.” For teachers of reading, that expertise comes from a deep understanding of the knowledge and skills needed to learn to read and experience in using that knowledge and skill to teach students.

The importance of this expertise was validated in the Reading Recovery i3 study. In addition to looking at student outcomes, May and colleagues looked for evidence of what made the difference between schools with higher outcomes and schools with lower outcomes. They found two characteristics that differentiated. In those schools that had the highest outcomes, the teachers demonstrated deliberateness and instructional dexterity to a higher degree than was found in schools with more typical outcomes.

In the study, deliberateness is defined as “an encompassing commitment to thoughtful practice.”

“Deliberate teachers engage in a particular set of behaviors, including:

purposeful analysis of students’ progress that is guided by close, carefully documented observation;
ongoing reflection on their own instruction; and
active engagement with their own continual learning, both individually and through participation in a community of practice.” (pg 92)

Instructional dexterity was defined as the flexible application of deep skill.

“The expressions of instructional dexterity we identify take place within the lesson itself and include:

supportive rapport that continually pushes the student toward maximal growth;
in-the-moment decision-making that draws on both prior understandings and real-time observations;
judicious use of language; and
a sense of urgency that is evident in the pace of the lesson and the efficiency of instructional moves.” (pg 95)

As teachers, we can’t be totally prepared for every eventuality, every variation students show. We need to hold on to our knowledge and expertise and apply it to each new situation that arises. Rather than backing away when faced with a new issue regarding student learning, expert teachers, such as those trained in Reading Recovery, are more likely to face it head-on using their own expertise as well as collaboration with colleagues to address those issues. As Clay repeatedly reminded us,

“If a child is a struggling reader or writer the conclusion must be that we have not yet discovered a way to help him learn.” (LL 2nd Ed., pg 165)

In a report on professional development, Darling-Hammond and her colleagues highlight how Reading Recovery exemplifies the seven characteristics necessary for effective professional development (pg. 5). In Reading Recovery not only has years of strong research to show how and why it works, but it also has substantial evidence to show that it does work. We all need to heed Scharer’s advice and advocate for the importance of teacher expertise.

Debra Zarling is a PK-5 Literacy Coordinator in the Oshkosh Area School District, Oshkosh, WI, and a Reading Recovery Site Coordinator with the Valley Area Reading Recovery Consortium.

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