Reading recovery for children with hearing loss

Abstract

This study investigated the application of Reading Recovery for children with hearing loss by measuring and comparing the literacy achievement of 12 children who are deaf or hard of hearing and 12 children with typical hearing who were participating in Reading Recovery interventions in the second year of primary school. Progress was measured by the administration of the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (Clay, 1993b, 2001). Scores at four time points - the start of the school year, the beginning of the program, discontinuation of the program and the end of the school year - were compared. Statistically significant progress was made by both groups of children, demonstrating that Reading Recovery enabled both groups of children to improve their literacy performance on selected indicators of literacy acquisition. The achievement scores of both groups of children were found to be within the range of scores of a larger population of children who had typical hearing and were participating in Reading Recovery.