Does Success in the Reading Recovery Program Depend on Developing Proficiency in Phonological-Processing Skills? A Longitudinal Study in a Whole Language Instructional Context

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the relation between the development of phonological-processing skills and the effectiveness of Reading Recovery (RR) in a whole language instructional context. Children independently selected by their schools for RR were compared with groups of poor readers who did not receive RR and with normally developing readers. Results indicated that the RR and poor reader comparison groups had deficiencies in phonological-processing skills during the year preceding their participation in RR, that participation in the program did not eliminate or reduce these deficiencies, and that success in RR and in subsequent reading achievement was closely associated with phonological-processing skills. The RR children showed declines in reading self-concept, in perceptions of ability in reading and spelling, and in general academic self-concept following RR. Teachers of the RR children rated them as having more classroom behavior problems and fewer adaptive functioning behaviors than the normally developing readers.