Maine Reading Recovery[R]: State Report & Evaluation, 1998-2000.

This report states that in 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 in Maine the number of Reading Recovery programs provided increased by 5% and 11% respectively, and that more than half of all Reading Recovery[R] students successfully completed the program. The report also states that students who successfully completed Reading Recovery[R] continued to improve in reading levels after they left the program, even without the extra instruction, and that most of the Reading Recovery[R] students who successfully completed the program were in the upper half of their classes in reading achievement, with many in the top quartile. It finds that the majority of Reading Recovery[R] students were reading on grade level at the end of first grade, and that very few were referred for special education services in reading, even though they had been the very lowest students in their first grades. It also finds that schools that reported they were able to serve all the students who needed Reading Recovery[R] recommended fewer students for further services and had fewer students with incomplete programs at the year's end. The report presents several implementation recommendations and calls for more funding for Reading Recovery[R] in Maine. (Contains 12 tables of data and 4 figures. Appended are: (1) a rubric for assessing a school's operation of Reading Recovery and (2) a hard to accelerate student action plan.) (NKA)