Reading Recovery in English, Maori and Spanish (in the U.S.A.): A Comparative Study

Abstract

This thesis considered some of the issues that would need to be addressed before the Reading Recovery programme could be made available to children in New Zealand learning to read and write in Maori. The Reading Recovery programme is an early intervention aimed at reducing the incidence of reading failure amongst New Zealand primary school children. It was designed and researched in New Zealand, by Professor Marie Clay, then of Auckland University. It currently operates in the majority of state funded primary schools. In 1991 over 12,000 New Zealand six year olds learning to read and write in English had the opportunity of Reading Recovery. There are increasing numbers of children in New Zealand whose parents wish them to receive their education using Maori as the language of instruction. In 1991, 258 schools offered education in the medium of the Maori language. These children are either in classrooms that are within state schools, but being taught in Maori from 30% to 100% of the school day, or enrolled in state funded kura kaupapa Maori schools, or in one of the 12 official bilingual schools. Children learning to read in Maori do not have access to Reading Recovery. The Reading Recovery programme has been implemented successfully in four other countries, including the U.S.A. In the American states of Arizona, Texas, California and Illinois, educators are developing an implementation of Reading Recovery in Spanish. A fellowship granted by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust enabled research to be undertaken in the U.S.A. The research design follows an approach described by Anderson (1990) as "policy research". Policy research explores an issue within the real-life context in which it exists. A policy research stance enables the researcher to explore the possibilities of putting a particular project into practice, and give consideration to the practical and technical dimensions that may be involved in the proposed implementation. Some features of the development process of Reading Recovery in Spanish were identified as having relevance to New Zealand. The collaboration of bilingual educators was seen as pivotal in the development and implementation of the programme in another language A comittment to following the Reading Recovery training model and establishing research and evaluation projects was considered essential. Back translations ensured that translated material retained the same concepts as the original model. The involvement of a wide range of experts in related fields, including consultation with Marie Clay, the developer of Reading Recovery was also recommended.