ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the identification and assessment procedures relate to this theoretical view, to the design of the intervention, and to the instruction. The programme is directed only to the lowest achievers in literacy in their second year at school, but can be used in any educational programme irrespective of teaching methods or philosophy. Reading Recovery does not look at causes of difficulty in the children: it starts from a different position. It assumes that there will be many causes of low achievement in early literacy learning. Research over three decades has gradually uncovered how pre-schoolers learn things about literacy which facilitate their progress in school. By the end of the first year at school in a good classroom programme teachers usually have at least one or two children who have very limited literacy achievements. The instruction proceeds from an assumption that a range of different literacy performances contribute to progress in literacy learning.
