Reading Recovery^® is a professional development project with a two-tier level of curriculum: faculty in universities train and provide professional development to teacher leaders who work at the site level and provide professional development to Reading Recovery^® teachers. This professional development project for teachers was initiated in the United States by faculty at The Ohio State University (OSU), but it was first implemented in New Zealand as a result of research conducted at the University of Auckland by Dr. Marie Clay.

Teachers preparing to be teacher leaders enroll in 21 graduate credit hours at OSU over the course of an academic year. These courses consist of nine field experience hours, and nine seminar hours. In addition, students take a course that focuses on issues dealing with implementing an educational innovation. Teachers preparing to be Reading Recovery^® teachers enroll in nine graduate credit hours, three per quarter, and are taught by teacher leaders. Following the initial year of training, teachers continue to participate in ongoing professional development sessions called continuing contact sessions. Continuing contact sessions provide collaborative opportunities for teachers to question the effectiveness of their instructional practices, to get help from peers on particularly hard-to-teach children, and to consider how new knowledge in the field may influence their practice.

For more information, please contact:

Emily M. Rodgers Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
College of Education
The Ohio State University
29 W. Woodruff Ave.
200 Ramseyer Hall
Columbus, Ohio 43210
614.292.9288 (Tel)
614.292.4260 (Fax)
rodgers.42@osu.edu