READING RECOVERY MAY OFFER REAL HOPE FOR KIDS

Reading. It's the most basic of school skills and the foundation of all other learning. When reading skills falter, academic achievement typically stalls.

That's why a new program begun this week by the Cape Girardeau Public Schools is so significant. We commend the district for taking a leadership role in Reading Recovery. The program in Cape Girardeau is the first in the state.

The program provides intensive, early instruction for young children having trouble in their first year of reading.

Participation is limited to the lowest achievers: the lowest 20 percent of readers. In this program, the worst go first.

The instruction is intensive, and strictly one-on-one. The students receive an average 50 to 60 daily lessons during an average 15 weeks of instruction. Once their achievements reaches the middle reading level of peers in their classes, they discontinue the lessons. A new child is then admitted to the program.

Six of Cape Girardeau's staff members will be trained as Reading Recovery teachers. Dr. Marlene Miller, associate professor at Southeast, oversees the district program as a Reading Recover teacher-leader. Other Reading Recovery "trainees" will work with Cape students. All Cape students who enter the first grade this fall will be screened for possible admittance.

Reading Recovery has an extraordinary track record. Research shows most of the program "graduates" never require remedial reading help again. In contrast, most other remedial assistance continues throughout a student's school career.

Instruction focuses on strategies, as opposed to teaching new skills. One of the strengths of the program is that it builds on what a child already to knows. And that helps them to learn what comes next.

The local program is a cooperative effort between Southeast Missouri State University and the Cape Girardeau Public Schools. They shared the costs of Miller's training. Only a dozen people in the U.S. have achieved her level of training in the program.

Introduced in New Zealand, the program was first piloted in the U.S. in 1984 at Ohio State University. This week, Southeast became one of the newest training sites for the program.

The Cape Girardeau Public Schools is breaking new ground with this program. And leading the way doesn't come without some risks and doubts. But the real benefactors of Reading Recovery will be young boys and girls who might have been burdened with mediocre reading skills for life, with all the under-achieving that portends. As the foundation of learning is strengthened, so may their entire lives be enhanced. And that's a risk worth fighting for.