Putting Reading First with Reading Recovery: Sustained Effects of the Reading Recovery Intervention in Iowa

Reading Recovery (RR) is a research-based, highly effective, short-term intervention, which has demonstrated positive results in Iowa for the lowest achieving readers and writers in first grade. Since it was first introduced to Iowa in 1991, the implementation of Reading Recovery has expanded to districts across the state. Currently, over 5,000 Iowa first graders receive the intervention annually. Each year in Iowa 75% or more of the children who receive a full series of Reading Recovery lessons successfully achieve average or better reading and writing competency. When this happens the intervention is “discontinued”. These results have been replicated for several years. This report demonstrates that not only does the intervention make a difference for many students who struggle to learn to read in the first grade, but also the gains that are made are sustained. A very large percentage of students continue to succeed many years after the intervention