This document summarizes a presentation about Reading Recovery and its benefits as a social justice intervention. It discusses how Reading Recovery can help narrow achievement gaps between students from low-income families and more affluent families. It provides data showing lower literacy rates and higher dropout rates for students from racial minority groups and families earning less than $30,000 per year. The presentation argues that Reading Recovery is an important program to target struggling grade 1 readers who face these socioeconomic hurdles.

1. READING RECOVERY: A SOCIAL JUSTICE INTERVENTION A presentation at the Canadian Institute of Reading Recovery January 24 2011 Sheraton Parkway Hotel, Richmond Hill, Ontario Dr Jerry Diakiw York University [email_address]

8. Cairo in the 1990 compared to Ahmed’s authors depiction. Egypt’s compulsory schooling till 15 compared to Ahmed’s 10 year old life on the street

31. EQAO RESULTS BY RACE Grade 3 Level3/4 Grads 6 Level 3/4 Reading Writing Reading Writing East Asian 68% 74% 78% 83% White 60% 60% 76% 75% South Asian 60% 71% 68% 74% S/EAsian 55% 65% 69% 77% MiddleEast 40% 55% 55% 57% Lat/Am 37% 47% 51% 55% Black18 43% 51% 47% 55%

38. POST SECONDARY EDUCATION BY PROVINCE ( AND URBAN /RURAL)

41. PISA and PSE attendance

46. “ Non-reading children are the greatest problem in American education. ” - Glenn Doman, “

50. As David Moriarty puts it: “ Reading Recovery steps into a child’s life at a critical time – before the cycle of failure begins. It remains world wide as an example of the most powerful, effective staff development program available, yielding the best trained teachers of reading in their districts, and compared to other programs that go on for years and never get children reading on grade level, Reading Recovery is a bargain.”(North American Reading Recovery Institute website)