An analysis of the Reading Recovery program used in about 960 NSW primary schools argues that it should be restricted to the lowest performing students.
The NSW Department of Education's general manager of strategic information and reporting, Jenny Donovan, is quoted in a Sydney Morning Herald exclusive, published yesterday, as saying ‘the report found that overall, the program was "not particularly effective ... What the report is suggesting is that Reading Recovery isn't the answer for students who have reading difficulties, and increasingly we see students whose levels of reading are not as bad maybe being subjected to a Reading Recovery treatment and it doing no good whatsoever for them.’
PETAA President Robyn Cox, in being consulted for the SMH piece said that Reading Recovery was effective for some students but it was not the only remediation program available to schools. ‘One way of improving achievement in early literacy would be to enhance teachers’ skills in identifying children with reading difficulties and fine-tuning their teaching strategies for this group,’ associate professor Cox said. ‘Reading Recovery is successful for many kids but there will be some kids who have ongoing difficulties in processing print. I wouldn't want to say it is ineffective because for many kids it is just what they needed at the right time.’
A spokeswoman for the NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the report showed where the program was working and where other strategies to improve reading could be more appropriate.
Read the full Sydney Morning Herald news article by Education Editor Alexandra Smith. Read the full report (.pdf 1.2 MB)