Reading Recovery Expands to Every Sarasota County Elementary School

A successful reading intervention for struggling Sarasota County first-graders that is outpacing national results will be expanded to all 23 elementary schools in the district when classes begin next week.

The Reading Recovery initiative, which is made possible locally with funding from Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, has enabled the placement of 34 custom-trained reading teachers across the district, for at least one in every elementary school. That growth comes after last year’s implementation of Reading Recovery in the county’s 10 Title I elementary schools showed an 86% success rate of students reading at grade level after a full complement of lessons.

“At this age, students are learning to read," said Veronica Brady, senior vice president for philanthropy at Gulf Coast Community Foundation. "By third grade, they must read to learn. Reading Recovery helps our poorest-performing students at a critical time, transforming their ability to succeed throughout the rest of their education."

International Success, Local Impact

Reading Recovery is a highly effective, research-based intervention of one-on-one tutoring for first-grade students who have the most difficulty with reading and writing. Highly trained teachers spend 30 minutes a day with each student, one-on-one, for up to 20 weeks. As soon as a student can meet grade-level expectations, the lessons are discontinued and a new student begins instruction.The intervention is most successful when it can be made available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching.

Follow-up studies show that most Reading Recovery students...sustain their gains in later years.

Reading Recovery was developed in the 1970s in New Zealand and has been used with over 2 million students internationally. In the U.S., the program is closely monitored by The Ohio State University, and the national success rate for achieving grade-level reading is 75%. Follow-up studies show that most Reading Recovery students also do well on standardized tests and sustain their gains in later years.

Gulf Coast donors Keith and Linda Monda were the catalyst for introducing Reading Recovery to Sarasota County Schools in 2015. The Mondas, who helped fund national implementation of the program through Ohio State, partnered with Gulf Coast and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation to initiate the program in three Title I schools in 2015. With support from additional Gulf Coast donors, the effort was expanded to 10 Title I schools last year. For the 2017-18 school year, funding from the Barancik Foundation and the School Board has accelerated the addition of teachers in the rest of the district's elementary schools.

23 Schools, 34 Teachers, Sky’s the Limit

The foundations, school board members, district administrators, and new and experienced Reading Recovery teachers gathered for a celebratory luncheon the week before classes started for the 2017-18 school year. The occasion was a full day of training for the new Reading Recovery teachers, and it gave them an opportunity to hear from school administrators, veteran teachers, and donors who are supporting their work.

Among the successes shared with the group:

• 86% of students who participated fully in Reading Recovery lessons in Sarasota County Schools last year met grade-level standards.

• In addition to 170 students enrolled in Reading Recovery, some 550 students were taught by Reading Recovery teachers in the second half of their day last year.

• The initiative’s success also contributed to significant reductions in the number of students retained (held back) at year-end.

Reading Recovery Lead Teacher Lisa Fisher introduced the new teachers to the group and recognized all of the veteran teachers, who received Reading Recovery lapel pins to acknowledge their shared achievements.

Assistant Superintendent Laura Kingsley compared everyone who has had a hand in the initiative to fire-starters — from the donors who kindled it, to the teachers who are spreading it, to the distant school districts where a spark has been set off. “I have to tell you,” said Kingsley,” people around the state are asking, ‘How did this fire start in Sarasota?’”

Superintendent Dr. Todd Bowden touted the early, proactive approach that is a hallmark of Reading Recovery. “Sometimes you start in first grade and you permanently change a life,” he said.

While Reading Recovery's relatively brief, intensive lessons are characterized as a “short-term intervention,” Dr. Bowden had a different perspective on what it means for students: “It’s a permanent intervention,” he said.

Want to support Reading Recovery in Sarasota County Schools? Go here.