Hypothesizing about Reading Recovery

Professor Opitz\u27s article is one of two in this special issue not written by a Reading Recovery trained teacher. The author has examined the literature on Reading Recovery and attempted to puzzle out the reason(s) for its success. Trained Reading Recovery teachers will find both points of agreement and disagreement, and many points on which to establish a discussion. Opitz writes, ...we do not, I believe, know why the program works. Yet as Clay suggests in this issue, answers are learned in the year-long and continuing contact training sessions. Our understanding of why the program works does not come from information or research alone, but from reflec tive practice. Reading Recovery teachers continue to re flect on their learning and practice, and implicit in the whole Reading Recovery process is ongoing research and evaluation. We have chosen the article because it reflects questions raised by those who have searched the literature on Reading Recovery and are contemplat ing involvement in the program. Professor Opitz\u27s hy pothesizing is based on wide reading in the literature about Reading Recovery, and should generate many powerful questions for the dialogue between trained Reading Recovery personnel and educators considering program implementation