Arkansas Reading Initiative Boosts Literacy of Primary School Children, Says New SREB Report

Because children who cannot read at or near grade level by the end of third grade are considered at risk of failure, quality reading instruction in the primary grades is essential to their success in school and beyond. A new report from the Southern Regional Education Board describes Arkansas' efforts to help elementary students learn to read. Arkansas has found that a combination of one-on-one tutoring and small group instruction can produce substantially better results than many of the models used in the past.

"Traditional ways of helping at-risk children learn to read like retaining them in one or more grades or providing decelerated remedial reading instruction do not really help them catch up to grade level," says David Denton, director of SREB's health and human services programs. "Arkansas is one state that is having a lot of success with early intervention and changes in general classroom reading instruction. Their approach provides an example of what is working to help elementary schools teach all children basic skills."

The new SREB report, Getting Elementary Schools Ready for Children: Reading First, traces Arkansas' efforts to improve reading instruction. In 1990 Arkansas began training teachers in Reading Recovery, an intensive one-on-one tutoring program for at-risk first graders. In addition, the state developed an Early Literacy Program for kindergarten through third grade that includes small group instruction and up-to-date training in the principles of early literacy for classroom teachers.

The report, prepared by the SREB Health and Human Services Commission, is the first in a series that will focus on "Paths to Success" for preschool children and children in the early grades. It continues the Atlanta-based education group's ongoing effort to help Southern states reach national and regional goals by the year 2000. The number one educational goal-in both the nation and the South- is getting all children ready for school, a goal that includes preparing schools and teachers to help all children succeed in and beyond the primary grades.

The report also finds that the cost of one-on-one tutoring in reading, often thought to be prohibitive, can actually be less expensive in the long run than many traditional programs for children with learning problems. Reading Recovery can reduce the number of children referred to special education and other expensive remedial services. The tutoring program costs less than retaining children in first grade or providing traditional Chapter 1 services.

Other benefits include a savings in time and an improvement in teachers' morale. The program decreases the time at-risk children spend outside of their regular classrooms and keeps them from missing out on activities and instruction. Strategies like Reading Recovery-when adopted by choice and accompanied by rigorous training-reinvigorate teachers and administrators with a renewed hope that they can help students who they once thought were doomed to failure.

The report is available for $7.50 from the Southern Regional Education Board, 592 Tenth Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30318-5790.

For further information, please contact Joan Lord at joan.lord@sreb.org