Reading Recovery
Local governments can invest in this strategy using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
- This strategy can help address educational disparities. The U.S. Department of Treasury has indicated that strategies that help achieve this outcome are eligible for the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.
Investments in this strategy are SLFRF-eligible as long as they are made in qualified census tracts or are designed to assist populations or communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Program basics
- Overarching goal is to intervene before students' literacy difficulties become lifelong obstacles
- Intervention consists of short-term, individualized literacy instruction. Students receive 30 minutes of daily instruction for approximately 12 to 20 weeks
- Intervention is targeted at first graders having the most difficulty with literacy learning
- Intervention supplements class instruction and is delivered via carefully designed intensive instructional practices by trained, knowledgeable teachers
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Strong (second-highest tier)
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Strong (second-highest tier)
Ranked as having the second-highest level of evidence by the U.S. Department of Education What Works Clearinghouse, Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development
Target population
Elementary school-aged children
Program cost
Not available
Implementation locations
- Nationwide
Dates active
Not available
Outcomes and impact
- Improves reading achievement
- Improved alphabetics, reading fluency, and reading comprehension
- Improved alphabetics by an average of 21 percentile points
- Improved reading fluency by an average of 46 percentile points
- Improved comprehension by an average of 14 percentile points
- Improved general reading achievement by an average of 27 percentile points
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review
- Structured processes guide implementation at all levels: working with school systems to implement the intervention, training teachers for problem solving, and monitoring the progress of students.
- Teacher leaders at all sites have taken courses on implementation theory and practice and continue to explore implementation issues during ongoing professional development sessions.
- Fidelity of implementation is ensured via documented adherence to formal, organization-wide guidelines and continuous professional development for trainers, teacher leaders, and teachers.
- Teacher training sites are staffed with coordinators, who help administer the program and support local implementation decisions.
- The broader Reading Recovery network supports schools and districts as they introduce and implement the intervention.
