Ministry funding for Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Support will no longer be available from 2025.
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Reading Recovery has proven to be an effective intervention for approximately 80% of the children who take part, helping over 350,000 New Zealand readers and writers since it was first established.
In 2021, Reading Recovery teachers began to offer Early Literacy Support in participating schools across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Reading Recovery teachers, classroom teachers, Reading Recovery Trainers and Tutors have been actively monitoring the impact of this approach. Assessment data is gathered at the start and end of term, and reports are shared with all participating schools.
Early results show small group, intensive literacy teaching delivers significant results.
A refreshed approach to Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support has created widespread positive change for shy tamariki at Rānui’s Birdwood School.
A Whanganui school has seen a 37 percent increase in student achievement in the half-year since adopting an inclusive and planned approach to literacy, proving there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to teaching children how to read and write.
"The flow between quality classroom teaching, ELS groups and Reading Recovery is working really well, and allows us to cater to the diverse learning needs within our kura."
For Maryjane, Reading Recovery has seen her make excellent progress in reading, letter knowledge, spelling and writing skills - and has dramatically improved her comprehension.
Ebbett Park School’s one-to-one Reading Recovery intervention accelerates six-year-old Eifion through 17 reading levels in 20 weeks.
Six-year-old Blake has experienced a significant shift forward thanks to Reading Recovery intervention.
Seven-year-old Soren Kirkman-Jenkins’ reading has accelerated 12 levels after 18 weeks of personalised one-to-one lessons with a qualified Reading Recovery teacher.
7685
children
579
schools
707
teachers
Stats reference take up of small group teaching from
Term 1 2021 - Term 4, 2023
Average progress of four reading levels across eight weeks, which is approximately twice the pace expected in the classroom
Average word writing achievement was accelerated, above the average level expected for the age group
The ability to read single words was brought up to average levels for the age group
Based on successful results, participating school leaders and teachers are highly supportive of the changes the Early Literacy Support approach brings to the classroom.
The number of schools using Early Literacy Support is rapidly expanding. To date, there are 420 schools currently participating across New Zealand. Along with an improvement in essential print knowledge, Reading Recovery and classroom teachers reported the following progress:
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There are detailed case studies of schools where Reading Recovery has operated very effectively with diverse populations.
Key features for success have been identified as:
To ensure a longer term sustainable outcome, schools continuously monitor the student's progress following their participation in Reading Recovery to ensure their ongoing success and to provide additional support when it is needed.
The New Zealand Ministry of Education collects data online from school on the progress and outcomes for every child. An annual report is published by Education Counts, a research division of the Ministry of Education. The Annual Monitoring of Reading Recovery can be viewed here.
A 2019 evaluation of Reading Recovery produced for the Ministry of Education identified it as being effective in improving literacy levels for children engaged in the intervention. There was also evidence that these benefits are sustained for children with the lowest literacy levels. The evaluation also showed that Reading Recovery teachers were highly valued, as was the national teacher training model.
A report by What Works Clearinghouse in the US published a report in June 2023 showing evidence of sustained progress three years after the intervention. Read more about it here.
The International Data Evaluation Centre (IDEC), Ohio State University, collects outcome data from all Reading Recovery and Descubriendo La Lectura (Spanish language) sites annually. They publish comprehensive technical reports on the IDEC website.
The United Kingdom Department for Education (2011) evaluation of Every Child a Reader (ECaR) showed that Reading Recovery has a positive impact on pupils. View report here.
A best-evidence synthesis by Professor Slavin at John Hopkins University placed Reading Recovery at the top of a list of 24 proven interventions for struggling readers. It achieved this strong standing using criteria developed for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
A meta-analysis by D’Agostino & Harmey (2016) found that Reading Recovery had an average effect size of .59 across the 16 experimental and quasi-experimental studies that met the stringent criteria for inclusion.
