Hi Dan, 
 I just spent all day yesterday and several other meetings writing a 
 submission for a reading recovery teacher in our school. Only 12 will be 
 selected in our region to start the process and next year numbers will 
 snowball. The trainers are in NZ at the moment training under MC herself -
 Professor Dame Marie Clay at University of Auckland. I have read everything 
 there is at the UQ libraries on RR, including some US longitudinal studies, 
 and it certainly seems to be promising. We have also talked to a guy nearby 
 but in the next region who has commenced it this year and he is full of 
 praise for it. I am sure the economic rationalists, and some other teachers, 
 
 will have trouble supporting such expensive special help.
 DT> many in early childhood education.  According to Charles, the work I
 DT> have cited  is deemed "worthless" and another has called it "trendy"
 
 Hardly, MC has been around since the sixties at least and has been modifying
 and improving her ideas since.
 
 DT> is regarded favorably at least in this AFT release.  Of further
 DT> interest is the fact that Marie Clay did  observations (qualitative
 DT> research) to obtain much of her data.    
 There is some criticism that not enough studies have been done. She quotes a 
 
 97% success rate. One US study tried to track the children for five years
 but at least a third of those on RR had moved and were untraceable. This is 
 one problem we have - a passing parade of those escaping from whatever - who
 stay long enough to be checked out and then disappear.
 
 DT> Early Intervention: We Can Invest Now or Pay More Later
 Before the problems are entrenched.... 
 DT> Early failure can be prevented for nearly every child.... If we, as a 
 The others are referred to guidance officers/intellectual assessment.
 
 DT> success. Many don't learn to read, fall behind, and are placed in 
 DT> boring, slow-paced remedial classes that never allow them to catch up.
 Our system has, for the want of equity and social justice, virtually 
 eliminated special schools and classes and implemented a program where the 
 funding goes directly to the individual (/school) to help with one on one 
 learning, usually by a teacher aide in or near the main classroom. The 
 problem is that there is never enough money for all those who need help. 
 Maybe that's why the government can see some justification in introducing 
 Reading recovery. We rarely repeat any child these days for these reasons.
 
 DT> Typically, the 20 percent of first graders with the lowest reading 
 DT> abilities  --  based on the results of diagnostic tests given at the 
 DT> beginning of the year  --  receive 30 minutes of intensive tutoring
 DT> each day from a highly trained teacher in addition to their regular
 
 And I believe this to be the key. The strategies are focussed and work and 
 they are whole language strategies that were already being used in the 
 main class but the rr children had attention problems or were just tuned 
 out/not ready in a class of 25 as I have.
 DT> Dan concludes: Marie Clay's Brian Cambourne, Ken Goodman, 
 DT> Donald Holdaway, 
     Frank SMITH etc etc etc
 DT> "We have a growing body of compelling evidence" 
 Keep up the good work.
 Erica.
... Every mighty oak was once a nut that stood its ground...
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