SENECA — Members of the Oconee County Legislative Delegation will receive a firsthand look at the School District of Oconee County’s Reading Recovery program during a Friday morning visit to Code Elementary School.

Kathleen Grant, program coordinator for the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University, said the program serves the lowest achieving first-grade students who are unable to keep up with the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.

“The students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12-20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher,” Grant said. “As soon as students can read within the average range of their class and demonstrate that they can continue to achieve, their lessons are discontinued and new students begin individualized instruction.”

Since its formation more than 12 years ago, Grant said that 80 percent of students completing the full 12-20 week series of lessons could read and write within the average range of performance of their class. In addition, Grant said follow-up studies indicate that most Reading Recovery students also do well on standardized tests and maintain their gains in later years. They may also be candidates for longer-term programs.

Currently, Grant said there are 237 schools within 45 school systems throughout the state participating in the program. During the past school year, 367 specially trained teachers assisted 3,718 children in improving their literacy skills, enabling those children to return to their classrooms stronger and more confident. Of those students, 74 percent qualified for free or reduced meals, 17 percent qualified for special education services and many spoke a language other than English.

In addition to Code, the other elementary schools in Oconee County that offer Reading Recovery are Orchard Park, Northside, Fair-Oak, Kellett, Ravenel and James M. Brown. Susan Turner, of Code Elementary, serves as the Teacher Leader who oversees the program’s teachers and their training.

Following a 30-minute observation of the program at Code, Grant said the legislators will meet with Clemson University faculty from the South Carolina University Training Center for Reading Recovery as well as district personnel.