Professor's work hailed by national reading council

By Eric Reikowski, media relations assistant

An article penned by Oakland University’s Dr. Mary K. Lose has been selected as one of nine “recent and classic” contributions examining literacy pioneer Marie Clay's global efforts.

The article, “The Promise of Clay's Theory of Literacy Processing: Training Literacy Lessons Intervention Specialists,” appeared in the Journal of Reading Recovery (JRR) in 2009. Published by the Reading Recovery Council of North America, JRR is a peer-reviewed journal that offers information related to Reading Recovery teaching, theory, implementation and research.

“I was very pleased to have my work selected by the council in celebration of International Literacy Day,” said Dr. Lose, associate professor in Oakland’s Department of Reading and Language Arts. “I was particularly delighted because the articles were chosen to honor the work of Dr. Marie Clay who was an international leader in changing the lives of children through her development of Reading Recovery.”

Coauthored with Dr. Eva Konstantellou, associate professor in the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative at Lesley University in Massachusetts, the article draws on the work of Dr. Clay, the pioneer educator who developed Reading Recovery starting in the early 1980s. With its emphasis on early intervention, Reading Recovery has been a potent force for identifying and assisting students who are struggling with reading and writing skills.

Dr. Lose’s paper addresses a fundamental question posed by Dr. Clay: “What is possible for children who struggle with literacy learning if we intervene at the first indication of the child’s difficulty?”

“Drawing on historical and theoretical frameworks, we provide a rationale for training literacy intervention specialists in schools,” Dr. Lose explained. “We also discuss the school culture necessary to maximize children’s learning and the current status of literacy intervention specialist training in the United States.”

Along with her role as a faculty member, Dr. Lose is also the director of the Reading Recovery Center of Michigan at Oakland University. OU is one of only 20 universities in the United States and the only one in Michigan to serve as a Reading Recovery training center.

Since its establishment in 1991, the center has served more than 100,000 first grade children throughout Michigan and over 1,200 Michigan teachers have been trained in Reading Recovery. At present, there are 15 Reading Recovery teacher leaders in Michigan who train new Reading Recovery teachers at 13 Regional Reading Recovery sites throughout the state.

“I am constantly humbled by the opportunities we have at the Reading Recovery Center to have a continuing impact on the lives of so many Michigan children. Reading Recovery has been shown to be very successful in helping young children who are struggling with reading. Success in reading at an early age has life-long benefits for every child.”

Currently, Dr. Lose is Oakland’s principal investigator on a five-year, $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant is part of a $54 million dollar award given to a consortium of 19 universities in the U.S. and provides training in Reading Recovery for 250 certified teachers in elementary schools throughout Michigan.

For more information on Oakland’s Reading Recovery Center and its services, visit the website at oakland.edu\readingrecovery.