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Reading Recovery
Professional Development
Reading Recovery Professional
Development
"…As schools systematize and create more opportunities for
serious staff development, the thoroughness of the Reading Recovery
model seems to be well worth emulating."
— R. Herman and S. Stringfield
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
- teaching four Reading Recovery students daily;
- actively participating in graduate-level classes;
- participating in clinical and leadership practicums, and
seminars in reading, writing, and adult learning theory;
- participating in teacher professional development classes
and fieldwork at established sites; and
- 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
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.
This is the first time in history that the success,
perhaps even the survival, of nations and people has been so
tightly tied to their ability to learn. Because of this, our
future depends now, as never before, on our ability to teach.”
— Darling-Hammond, 1996, p. 7
References
Darling-Hammond, L. (1996). The right to learn and the
advancement of teaching: Research, policy, and practice for
democratic education. Educational Researcher, 25, 5–17.
Herman, R. & Stringfield, S. (1997). Ten promising programs for
educating all children: Evidence of impact. Arlington, VA:
Educational Research Service.
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