Success Stories

In kindergarten, Andres Silva spoke almost no English, and by first grade was still among the lowest first graders in reading in Washoe County School District in Reno, NV. After less than 20 weeks of Reading Recovery lessons with teacher Sonia MacDonald (one of the first teachers trained in Reading Recovery in Reno), he was average in reading [...]

By the end of the first nine weeks, it was very obvious that Londyn was having trouble reading. Her constant struggle was causing her to develop a hatred for reading. Reading practice at home was almost impossible. By the time she got through one page she would be so frustrated she would refuse to go on. I kept thinking [...]

Fifth grader Kautilya Jammalamadaka has written an 88-page adventure story. Published by Amazon in June 2014, The Warriors of Wridor: The Doomed Quest, is now available online and receiving rave reader reviews. No one could have predicted this success when Kautilya began first grade as a struggling reader and writer. Kautilya was selected for first-round individual lessons with [...]

Hannah Powers began her academic career at Sippican Elementary School in Old Rochester Regional School District, MA. Hannah’s mother said her daughter “wasn’t interested in learning to read” as she began Reading Recovery lessons taught by Kelly Kelleher. “When I think of Hannah, I remember a very conscientious, thoughtful little girl, who adored animals, especially horses,” Kelleher said. [...]

In 2004-2005, Brenda Rodriguez enrolled in Amarillo Independent School District’s Glenwood Elementary.  After administering the Instrumento de Observacion, it was apparent that she was behind academically.  She could write her name and knew the letter a. The principal, her classroom teacher, and even her parents considered placing Brenda in kindergarten so she could “catch up” to her peers.  [...]

Ethan McKay came into Reading Recovery as a quiet, shy boy in Grade 1 at Wellington School in Winnipeg. His mother, Colleen, recalls that at first she had felt a little let down and sad about Ethan needing additional support in learning to read and write. But shebecame so interested in the Reading Recovery intervention that had been [...]

Joshua Rosser was a Reading Recovery student at CSD/Wales Primary (New York) in 2002. After completing lessons, he went on to be a well-rounded and successful student. Throughout high school, Joshua belonged to academic clubs and was a scholar athlete. He played varsity sports including volleyball, swimming, and track. Joshua achieved the ultimate high school goal as Class [...]

Alyssa Hahn: 1995-96 Client: Bourbon County Public Schools, KY Date: 1995-96 Alyssa Hahn was a quiet, rather shy child in 1995 when she began Reading Recovery lessons in Bourbon County Public Schools, KY. Her teacher, Carolyn Coons, remembers that Alyssa had quite a few known items but read at a low text level when [...]

Austin Rhodes was one of Jeannette Tiwald’s first Reading Recovery students in Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska. His teacher reports that she still has his “Austin, Austin, What Do You See?” book that he made in Roaming Around the Known lessons. (He said she could keep it to show to other students learning to read.) Today, Austin is [...]

All students face their own unique challenges in the process of learning to read, but Bryan was faced with even more challenges than the others; he suffered from cerebral palsy that had confined him to a wheelchair, and motor skills were an issue. After 96 lessons, Bryan successfully discontinued his lesson series and was able to read with [...]

Jessy Ohl ranked among the lowest-performing students of four first-grade classrooms at Denison (Iowa) Elementary School in 1992. After a full series of lessons, he was successfully reading higher-level texts and writing stories. His academic success continued — through speech, oratory, debate, and poetry contests and high school honors to a double doctorate in political science and communications [...]

Dante Marshall was one of the first children in North America to benefit from Reading Recovery as an at-risk first grader in 1984-85, the year Reading Recovery was piloted in the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools. As all Reading Recovery students, Dante began first grade with limited literacy skills, but in 15 weeks he was reading and writing. Dante [...]