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Basic Facts You Should Know About Reading Recovery
Adapted from RRCNA Website
Goal of the Intervention
The goal of Reading Recovery is to dramatically reduce the number of first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to reduce the cost of these learners to educational systems.
Description of the Intervention
Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching.
Which Students Are Served?
Reading Recovery serves the lowest-achieving first graders—the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.
How Does the Intervention Work?
Individual students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher. As soon as students can meet grade-level expectations and demonstrate that they can continue to work independently in the classroom, their lessons are discontinued, and new students begin individual instruction.
The Two Positive Outcomes of the Intervention
There are two positive outcomes for students who receive RR instruction:
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Since 1984 when Reading Recovery began in the United States, approximately 75% of students who complete the full 12- to 20-week intervention can meet grade-level expectations in reading and writing. Follow-up studies indicate that most Reading Recovery students also do well on standardized tests and maintain their gains in later years.
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The few students who are still having difficulty after a complete intervention are recommended for further evaluation. Recommendations may be made for future support (e.g., classroom support, Title I, LD referral). This category represents a positive, supportive action on behalf of the child and the school. Diagnostic information from Reading Recovery is available to inform decisions about future actions.
Professional Development for Reading Recovery Professionals
Professional development is an essential part of Reading Recovery, utilizing a three-tiered approach that includes teachers, teacher leaders, and university trainers. Professional development for all Reading Recovery professionals begins with an academic year of graduate-level study and continues in subsequent years. With the support of the teacher leader, Reading Recovery teachers develop observational skills and a repertoire of intervention procedures tailored to meet the individual needs of at-risk students.
History of Success Across the World
Reading Recovery has a strong tradition of success with the lowest-achieving children. Developed in New Zealand more than 30 years ago, Reading Recovery now also operates in most states in the United States, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (domestic and foreign), Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The intervention has been reconstructed in Spanish as Descubriendo la Lectura and in French as Le sondage d’oservation en lecture-écriture (Clay, 2003). From the university center in England, the intervention has spread to Jersey, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It has also spread beyond the UK to “neighbors in the Republic of Ireland and Denmark, where they anticipate considerable expansion within different educational systems. The intervention is being redeveloped into Danish for implementation in Denmark” (Schmitt, Askew, Fountas, Lyons, & Pinnell, 2005, p. 21).
Citations
Schmitt, M. C., Askew, B. J., Fountas, I. F., Lyons, C. A., & Pinnell, G. S. (2005). Changing futures: The influence of Reading Recovery in the United States. Worthington, OH: RRCNA.
Reading Recovery Lessons
Adapted from RRCNA Website
Lesson Objective
The objective of Reading Recovery lessons is to promote accelerated learning so that students catch up to their peers, close the achievement gap as quickly as possible, and can benefit from classroom instruction without supplemental help.
Individually Designed Lessons
Daily 30-minute Reading Recovery lessons are individually designed and individually delivered by specially trained teachers. Using a wide range of procedures, teachers make moment-by-moment decisions within each lesson to support the individual child.
Assessment Based on Systematic Observation
In Reading Recovery, careful observation of reading and writing behaviors guides teaching decisions. As teachers gather data they align their teaching with what a child actually does.
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Reading Recovery teachers are trained to use Clay's An Observation
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Survey of Early Literacy Achievement to assess each child's strengths and confusions.
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The first 10 sessions provide further opportunities for assessment as the child engages in reading and writing.
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The teacher takes a running record of the child's progress on text reading every day and uses the data to plan future lessons.
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The teacher uses other observational data to inform instruction: daily lesson records, students’ writing, and change over time in reading and writing vocabulary.
Lesson Content
Each lesson consists of reading familiar books, reading yesterday’s new book and taking a running record, working with letters and/or words using magnetic letters, writing a story, assembling a cut-up story, and reading a new book.
The teacher creates opportunities for the child to problem solve and provides just enough support to help the child develop strategic activities to use on texts in both reading and writing independently.
Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Spelling, Comprehension, and Fluency
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Every lesson incorporates learning about letter/sound relationships.
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Children are taught to hear and record sounds and to work with spelling patterns.
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Reading Recovery encourages comprehension and problem solving with print so that decoding is purposeful and students read fluently.
Outcomes of Lessons
A series of Reading Recovery lessons has two positive outcomes:
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The child meets grade-level expectations and can make progress with classroom instruction, no longer needing extra help. (This is the outcome for approximately 75% of the children with a complete Reading Recovery intervention.)
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The child makes significant progress but does not reach grade-level expectations. Additional evaluation is recommended and further action is initiated to help the child continue making progress.
Citations
Clay, M. M. (2005a). Literacy lessons designed for individuals part one: Why? when? and how? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. M. (2005b). Literacy lessons designed for individuals part two: Teaching procedures. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. M. (2002, 2006). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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Phonics and Reading Recovery
Adapted from RRCNA Website
Does Reading Recovery teach phonics?
Reading Recovery lessons include all five essential components of reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel (2000). The panel cautioned against making phonics instruction the dominant component in a reading program, either in the amount of time devoted to it or in the significance attached. They acknowledged that learning to read and write is a complex process.
Within a comprehensive approach, Reading Recovery teachers understand the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics for beginning readers and writers. During lessons, teachers attend to letters, sounds, and words and incorporate learning about letter-sound relationships during the reading and writing of extended text and as explicit, direct instruction.
Recognition of Reading Recovery's success in teaching phonics
In her book on research related to beginning reading, Marilyn Adams said this about Reading Recovery lessons: "The importance of phonological and linguistic awareness is also explicitly recognized" (1990, p. 420).
Researchers and scholars outside the Reading Recovery community have demonstrated that Reading Recovery lessons lead to the acquisition of phonological skills:
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The What Works Clearinghouse report documents positive effects (its highest rating) on Reading Recovery students' alphabetics skills. Alphabetics includes phonemic awareness, print awareness, letter knowledge, and phonics. -
A study by Stahl, Stahl, and McKenna (1999) concluded that Reading Recovery children acquire phonological awareness and phonological recoding within their lessons. -
A study by Iversen and Tunmer (1993) acknowledged that Reading Recovery includes explicit instruction in phonological areas and that the children performed better than a control group on phonological assessments. -
Researchers in the United Kingdom (Sylva & Hurry, 1996) compared Reading Recovery with a phonological intervention. They found Reading Recovery to be the more powerful intervention across time and particularly effective for socially disadvantaged children.
Citations
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Iversen, S., & Tunmer, W. (1993). Phonological processing skills and the Reading Recovery program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(1), 112–126.
Stahl, K. A. D., Stahl, S., & McKenna, M. C. (1999). The development of phonological awareness and orthographic processing in Reading Recovery. Literacy Teaching and Learning: An International Journal of Early Reading and Writing, 4(1), 27–42.
Sylva, K., & Hurry, J. (1995). Early intervention in children with reading difficulties: An evaluation of Reading Recovery and a phonological training. Literacy, Teaching and Learning: An International Journal of Early Literacy, 2(2), 49–68.
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Reading Recovery Professional Development Model
Administrators and policymakers understand the vital connection between highly qualified teachers and student achievement. A hallmark of Reading Recovery is the intensive, ongoing professional development for school-based teachers, site-based teacher leaders, and university-based trainers. Reading Recovery is an investment in the teachers who work with children having the greatest difficulty learning to read and write.
For all Reading Recovery professionals, a full academic year of initial professional development is followed in subsequent years by ongoing development sessions. The comprehensive staff development model ensures the quality of teaching and implementation in schools and systems. Integral to Reading Recovery professional development is the use of a one-way glass, with class members observing lessons and talking about a child's behaviors and a teacher's teaching decisions.
No packaged program can substitute for an informed teacher's design and delivery of individual lessons for each child. In Reading Recovery, the teacher analyzes students' strengths and needs, selects procedures and makes teaching decisions on the run, and assesses the results to inform her next teaching moves. This process takes skill and ongoing study, collaboration, and support.
University Trainers
Reading Recovery university training centers provide the organizing structure for states or regions of the country. University trainers are faculty members within the institution. They are responsible for initial and ongoing professional development for teacher leaders, supporting a network of affiliated Reading Recovery teacher training sites, expanding and strengthening sites within the network, and ensuring the integrity of Reading Recovery within the region.
In the United States, The Ohio State University and Texas Woman's University provide the initial year of professional development for trainers. The 1-year residency program prepares postdoctoral university faculty to train Reading Recovery teacher leaders for districts and consortia.
Teacher Leaders
Teacher leaders are selected by a school district or consortium of districts that has made a commitment to implementing Reading Recovery. Teacher leader candidates must have a master's degree and leadership potential.
The teacher leader candidate attends one of more than 20 university training centers in North America for an academic year of full-time professional development that includes:
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teaching four Reading Recovery students daily;
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actively participating in graduate-level classes;
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participating in clinical and leadership practicums, and seminars in reading, writing, and adult learning theory;
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participating in teacher professional development classes and fieldwork at established sites; and
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preparing their home districts for Reading Recovery implementation.
After the initial year, teacher leaders continue to teach at least two children daily in Reading Recovery, work with teacher training classes, and provide leadership for site implementation. They are responsible for data collection on all Reading Recovery children in their site and for using the data to improve student performance and implementation decisions.
Teachers
Reading Recovery teacher candidates must be certified teachers selected by their school system. In the United States, teacher leaders provide Reading Recovery teachers with a full academic year of professional development during a 3-hour class 1 day a week. Contact a teacher leader near you for local training information.
During the training year, the teacher receives graduate credit while working with four children on a daily basis and attending a weekly class. In addition, each teacher-in-training is observed at least four times by the teacher leader.
Professional development integrates theory and practice. A one-way mirror enables teachers to observe, discuss, and reflect on Reading Recovery lessons with the teacher leader and classmates. Reading Recovery teachers develop effective observational skills and a repertoire of teaching procedures that are designed to meet the particular needs of individual students.
Staying Current Professionally
For ongoing professional development, Reading Recovery teachers attend at least six sessions each year led by their teacher leader(s). At least four of these sessions include observing lessons through a one-way mirror while talking about child behaviors and teaching moves.
Teacher leaders participate in regularly scheduled professional development sessions conducted by the university trainers, and colleague visits so they can learn from their peers. They attend a required Teacher Leader Institute annually to ensure updated knowledge about all aspects of their roles.
University trainers attend at least two professional development sessions annually and work collaboratively within the North American Trainers Group (NATG) for continuous learning.
The Reading Recovery Council of North America (RRCNA) is the membership organization that links Reading Recovery professionals around the world. RRCNA provides research findings, newsletters, publications, and conferences for its members.
Quality Assurance
The Standards and Guidelines of Reading Recovery in the United States or The Canadian Institute of Reading Recovery Standards and Guidelines, provide detailed information about professional development at all levels of Reading Recovery. Ongoing professional development, coupled with strict adherence to standards, assures the quality of Reading Recovery.
Long-Term Impact of Teacher Leader Training
Training a teacher leader is an investment that pays dividends over time. One teacher leader can train as many as 12 teachers a year, with each teacher serving at least eight students per year. Under ideal conditions as many as 400 students could be reached over 3 years through the commitment to professional development for a single teacher leader to serve in half of his or her teaching position at a school.
Reading Recovery Teacher Leader Application (coming soon)
Reading Recovery Teacher Application (coming soon)
Request an Application
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Getting Started: The Process of Establishing a Teacher Training Site
Adapted from RRCNA Website
When one or more school systems develop a serious interest in Reading Recovery, thoughtful information gathering and decision making need to occur. Much of the preparatory work outlined below should be done during the investigation stage and during the time a teacher leader is being trained. More detailed outlines are included in the pdf version of this webpage. Some tasks will need to be revisited and a few will not be completed until later.
1. Fact Finding
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Bring together a decision-making team, which includes administrators from the central office, elementary school principals, and some primary-grade teachers.
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Gather information about effective early interventions in literacy.
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Invite a Reading Recovery trainer to explain the design of Reading Recovery and the implementation process.
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Analyze the purposes, design, and requirements of Reading Recovery.
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Compare innovations based on data and make choices.
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Decide on the type of site you need:
i. a teacher training site with a teacher leader within a single
district
ii. a teacher leader within a single district serving multiple
districts, or
iii. a consortium/cooperative of several districts that creates
an organizational structure with a teacher leader to serve
all of the districts involved
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Make decisions necessary for start-up: starting time, personnel, budget, facility, schools.
2. Assessing Need in District or Multiple District
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Gather information about the number of children who will need Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura each year at the local school and district levels.
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Consult building principals and school teams in the process.
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Calculate number of teachers needed to serve all the children who will need the intervention.
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Make conservative estimates of results that take into account mobility and low coverage in the initial implementation.
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Make a plan for gradual implementation based upon an estimate of need and the level of interest among local schools and the building principals.
3. Cost of Establishing a Site
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Create a long-range budget plan for Reading Recovery / Descubriendola Lectura implementation. Costs will vary as to whether you are establishing a teacher training site with a teacher leader within a single district, setting up a single district serving multiple districts, or forming a consortium/cooperative of several districts.
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Estimate costs, considering factors related to:
i. teacher leader position
ii. number of children who will need Reading
Recovery instruction
iii. number of teacher positions needed to teach those
children
iv. initial and ongoing training
v. materials
vi. facilities
4. Funding Sources (from A Principal's Guide to Reading Recovery)
Federal Funds
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Title I (Federal Funds)
i. Basic grants (Part A)
ii. Reading First grants (Part B)
iii. Grants for migratory children (Part C)
iv. Comprehensive School Reform funds (Part F)
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Title II (Federal Funds)
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Title II funds to train highly qualified teacher
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Title III (Federal Funds)
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Title III funds for limited-English-proficient and immigrant students
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Other potential sources of federal funds:
i. Twenty-First Century Community Learning
Centers (21CCLC)
ii. Competitive grants under Title IV
iii. Innovative Program state grants under Title V
State Funds
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Several states have appropriated early literacy funding from their state budgets.
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Contact RRCNA for additional information.
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Also check the department of education in your state for information or catalog of private foundations, community foundations, and corporate-giving programs that have an interest and commitment to education.
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Local Funds
Community and local grants may be used as resources for
implementation of Reading Recovery.
5. Timeline and Implementation/Development Plan (from A Principal's Guide to Reading Recovery)
A successful Reading Recovery implementation requires careful consideration of many factors before the training of teacher leaders and teachers begins.
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Creating a fit within a comprehensive literacy plan
Reading Recovery provides the early intervention component essential in a school's comprehensive literacy plan. By intervening early, Reading Recovery helps close the achievement gap between the lowest-achieving children and their peers before the gap becomes too large to bridge. Both good classroom teaching and Reading Recovery are needed to prevent a significant number of children from encountering reading and writing failure by the end of the first grade.
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Building ownership
If you plan to adopt Reading Recovery, the entire staff deserves to become knowledgeable and participate in the decision-making process; the more the ownership is shared, the greater the success will be. After Reading Recovery's initial adoption, broad ownership will still need to be supported and enhanced to promote continuous improvement.
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Commitment from superintendent and school board to adopt and implement
This is a vital key at every level of interest to obtain a long-term commitment within the school system and local school level. Reading Recovery must have support at the local school level, but also the superintendent and school board must be part of the implementation plan.
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Affiliation with university training center
Teacher leaders may be trained at any university training center, but after training every teacher leader is attached to one university training center for professional development and research support. The university training center also provides consultation to teacher leaders on training, implementation, and data collection.
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Recruit and select site coordinator
The site coordinator is an administrator who is responsible for overseeing and managing the implementation of Reading Recovery. It is best if the site coordinator is an administrator in the district's administrative center, so that the person can support the teacher leader in communicating with other administrators in the district. The site coordinator and teacher leader work together serving at the district level, multiple districts, or consortium/cooperatives. While the site coordinator is responsible for overseeing and managing implementation of Reading Recovery at the training site level, some multiple districts or consortium/cooperatives sites recruit a district coordinator to serve as a link between the school district and the Reading Recovery training site.
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Recruit candidates for teacher leader (from Standards and Guidelines of Reading Recovery in the United States, available from RRCNA)
The primary responsibilities of Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura teacher leaders are to work with students, train teachers, provide continuing professional development of school teams, disseminate information, and participate in the Reading Recovery network to maintain their own professional development. The teacher leader also works closely with district administrators to achieve effective program implementation, operation, and evaluation. A teacher leader must be employed in a school district or school system that has a commitment to implement Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura.
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Arrange for training a teacher leader or leaders
i. Gather information from university training center in your
state or at the nearest location if your state does not have
a university training center.
ii. Make a plan with the university for training teacher
leaders and for continuing professional development.
iii. Analyze costs of training over time.
iv. Select teacher leader or leaders.
v. Make plans for teacher leader training and for including
the teacher in ongoing planning in the district.
vi. Teacher recruitment, selection, and training
a. Recruiting high-quality teachers is of critical
importance. The primary responsibility of Reading
Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura teachers is
teaching children in their schools. The teacher also
works closely with building administrators and
faculty as well as the parents of Reading
Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura students. The
Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura teacher
must be employed in a school system that has a
commitment to implementation. Refer to key points
in A Principal's Guide to Reading Recovery, Staff
Selection for Reading Recovery, page 21.
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Create an evaluation plan
The creation of a complete evaluation plan may take place after more is understood about the program and when the teacher leader is trained and ready to assist in designing the evaluation. It is wise, however, to recognize the need for evaluation in the initial implementation plan. Reading Recovery is a rigorously evaluated program. Data are collected on every child, Reading Recovery teacher, and school. In addition to the regular program evaluation data, many districts conduct their own long-term studies. The following suggestions can guide long-term studies:
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Bring together program implementers and evaluators.
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Examine the data collection process that is required for Reading Recovery.
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Consider studying the results of the program over several years.
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Avoid making quick decisions based on data from the first year of implementation. Make budget allocations to provide for evaluation.
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Compile all information into a written implementation plan
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Plan for 3 years beyond the initiation of the program.
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Include tasks to be performed during the year that the teacher leader is being trained.
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Consider the plan a working document. Be sure that all members of the planning committee have an opportunity to carefully consider and discuss the plan.
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Share your plan with the university training center for suggestions.
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Make budget allocations necessary to support the plan.
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Establishing a Multi-District Teacher Training Site
(Consortium/Cooperatives)
Example:
Conduct fact finding information on Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura with a strong advisory or governing team composed of stakeholders from multiple districts to be served by a single district or the districts that make up the consortium/cooperative.
Assess the needs of the multiple districts or districts in the consortium/cooperative.
Establish the cost for the teacher training site. Within the long-range implementation plan include the position of the teacher leader and determine who will be responsible as the fiscal agent for the multiple districts or consortium/cooperative. Secure the yearly budget for the training site.
Secure the funding sources through a variety of resources. Develop budgetary and administrative agreements. Ensure that the agreements provide assurances for not only initial training, but also for ongoing professional development for teachers and teacher leaders over the next several years. Ensure that all agreements are in writing and that all systems involved receive a copy of the agreements.
Make sure every member of the multiple districts or consortium/cooperative fully understands the implementation of Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura and the roles and responsibilities of members. Place all agreements in writing and keep minutes of meetings.
Develop a timeline and implementation plan for 3 years with an advisory team made up of key stakeholders from the multiple districts or consortium/cooperative districts. Variations of multiple districts or consortium/cooperatives may exist.
It is vital as part of the implementation process that every day Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura training sites maintain high quality and fidelity.
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Reading Recovery:
Part of a Comprehensive Literacy Plan
Adapted from RRCNA Website
What does a comprehensive literacy plan accomplish?
A comprehensive literacy plan is key to improving literacy achievement for all children. It addresses the quality of classroom instruction and attends to necessary extra intervention for learners who need additional support. Essential components include professional development for teachers, collaborative problem solving, and effective use of assessment.
What are the characteristics of a comprehensive literacy plan?
Professional Development is central to improved student performance. Effective staff development must be tied to student achievement, be ongoing and intensive, and include coaching and support for classroom teachers. Successful professional developers promote teacher ownership for the comprehensive literacy plan and the sharing of instructional ideas and collaborative problem solving within and across grade meetings.
Research-based instructional approaches must be included at all grade levels. Explicit instruction, which includes teacher modeling and student opportunities to practice in authentic contexts, is an important characteristic of research-based approaches. The effectiveness of research-based instructional approaches needs to be monitored with appropriate assessment tools. Instructional approaches may need to be modified to produce better results with the student population of each particular school.
Excellent classroom instruction provides in-depth learning opportunities for diverse learners. Developing relationships and respect for individual students, setting high expectations for all learners, and providing learning opportunities within meaningful contexts are important characteristics of effective classrooms. Sufficient time to provide uninterrupted blocks of literacy instruction as well as a rich supply of high-quality books and materials are necessary for excellent classroom instruction.
Literacy assessment at all grade levels employs a variety of informal and formal measures of phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and the development of each student's reading process. Classroom teachers use continuous assessment to address student learning as well as their own teaching. Data are used schoolwide for collaborative problem solving for individuals and for the evaluation of the comprehensive literacy plan.
Reading Recovery school teams provide for shared responsibility for the lowest-achieving readers and writers in the school. Although students are in first grade when they receive the Reading Recovery intervention, all of the educators in the building are responsible for the instructional decisions of these students. The school team takes responsibility for monitoring the progress of the lowest-achieving students, making decisions about selection of students for the intervention, problem-solving students who do not respond adequately to the intervention, and monitoring the progress of students after the intervention. Team members include the principal, teachers representing all grade levels, resource teachers, and other instructional support personnel.
Levels of intervention need to be available, based on the student need. All students deserve to have excellent classroom instruction. A few students will not make adequate progress, even with this excellent instruction. For those children who do not respond to classroom instruction after 1 year at school, Reading Recovery provides specialized instruction tailored to the needs and strengths of each child. Most children who receive Reading Recovery instruction accelerate their learning so that they are then able to profit from excellent classroom instruction. For the small number of children who continue to need instructional support after receiving the Reading Recovery intervention, the school team needs to determine the long-term support that is most appropriate and effective for each child.
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Replacing a Teacher Leader:
When a Teacher Leader Leaves a Training Site
For a variety of reasons teacher leaders may leave the training site where they have been working. In sites that have only one teacher leader, this void can jeopardize the operation of the training site because the teacher leader plays a multifaceted role in ensuring student success. When this happens, the following steps are critical.
1) Notify the trainers at your affiliated university training center
about what has happened. The trainers will help you examine
options.
2) Begin planning to train a new person from your site for the
position, or begin advertising and hiring a trained teacher
leader.
3) Make temporary plans for the stability of your program until a
new teacher leader can be found.
Employing a trained teacher leader may seem like an inexpensive, and quick solution. However training someone from within the educational system has advantages because the trainee already understands the school system and has established good relationships within the system. Because there are only a limited number of trained teacher leaders available, it is a good idea to work on planning to train a new person while you advertise for a trained teacher leader.
Searching for a Trained Teacher Leader
The best way to begin a search for a trained teacher leader is to contact the university training center with which you affiliate. The university training center trainer may be aware of possible candidates who might be available for the position.
In addition, you can contact the Reading Recovery Council of North America (www.readingrecovery.org) to post the job opening on their Website.
Local and regional advertising is a possibility, and the trainer can help review your ad copy. Once you find candidates, be sure to call the trainers who trained them to request recommendations.
Don't be surprised if your search leads to frustration and few viable candidates. Existing sites don't like to lose their teacher leaders either!
Training a New Teacher Leader
A second option is to train a new teacher leader. This option is especially valuable when there are potential local candidates who know the school system. This option involves finding funding to cover the cost of training and then recruiting a qualified candidate. Additionally, arrangements must be made for the effective operation of Reading Recovery while your new teacher leader is being trained. The trainer at your university training center can help with this process by providing guidelines for selecting a candidate, training details, and cost information.
Temporary Arrangements While Training a New Teacher Leader
The trainer at the university training center where your site is affiliated will work collaboratively with your site coordinator to design a temporary one-and-a-half-year plan while a new teacher leader is trained. Eventually the site coordinator will need to write to the university training center to request a waiver to the standards and guidelines in order to implement this plan.
While the new teacher leader is being trained, there are critical tasks to be addressed in the temporary plan:
1) Temporarily employ a trained teacher leader to coordinate
and provide the necessary services during the training year.
This includes conducting the continuing contact
(professional development for trained Reading Recovery
teachers) sessions during the year and coaching the new
teacher leader to ensure that the professional development
responsibility can be transferred to the new teacher leader
when training is completed.
2) Ensure that the temporarily employed trained teacher
leader's contract allows enough time for this person to
coordinate Reading Recovery and complete the following
tasks:
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Provide the required number of continuing contact sessions and school visits for trained teachers
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Collect, monitor, approve, and submit data to the National Data Evaluation Center and arrange for fees to be paid for data services
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Assist the trained teachers in writing school reports for their principals
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Make sure a site report is collaboratively written for the previous year by the site coordinator and temporary teacher leader.
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Ensure the teacher leader has time for solving instructional and implementation problems that arise during the year
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Recruit a class of teachers to be trained by the newly trained teacher leader for the next year
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Order replacement books and materials as well as sets of books and materials for the new class
A surprising amount of administration and coordination is needed to achieve tasks, such as notifying teachers of the temporary plan and assigning them to continuing contact groups. Some of these can be handled by the site coordinator; however, most of the tasks require the expertise of a trained teacher leader.
Resources for Problem Solving
A trainer at the university training center is the best person to help a site find a trained teacher leader who can be temporarily employed for your site.
Since very few full-time trained teacher leaders are available, sometimes teacher leaders who work elsewhere are willing to provide part-time assistance to help out at a site that is training a new teacher leader. However, temporarily employed teacher leaders must have an on-site coordinator. The use of a temporary teacher leader may be necessary, but is not optimal. Teacher leader stability is essential to your site's successful Reading Recovery implementation.
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