[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 92 (Thursday, June 5, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DESCUBRIENDO LA LECTURA AND READING RECOVERY

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                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 5, 2008

  Mr. LAMPSON. Madam Speaker, it is truly a pleasure to rise today to 
acknowledge the achievements of Descubriendo la Lectura and Reading 
Recovery in teaching struggling first grade students to read and write 
in the 22nd House district of Texas.
  In April I visited Fort Bend Independent School District to observe 
an early reading intervention for bilingual children whose initial 
literacy learning is in Spanish. It is called Descubriendo la Lectura--
DLL for short. The goal of DLL is to reduce the number first-grade 
children who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to 
reduce the cost of those learners to educational systems. DLL is a 
reconstruction of Reading Recovery for Spanish-speaking children and 
provides short-term, one-to-one tutoring with a specially trained 
teacher.
  The results in my district are impressive, beginning with the student 
I met the day of my visit. Jose began his DLL lessons in January 
reading on a text level of 1, which means he could read a simple book 
with a single line, supported by single illustrations. He could 
recognize his own name and write very few other words.
  On the day of my visit he was reading at a text level of 12, which 
means he could read a book with 4-8 lines of text per page. He is able 
to read books with more challenging ideas, vocabulary and longer 
sentences. He is able to interpret and understand ideas and characters 
through discussions with the DLL teacher.
  In the Fort Bend Independent School District, 70 percent of the 
students receiving a full series of DLL lessons were reading on or 
above grade level by the end of first grade last year. Throughout 
Texas, the U.S., and Department of Defense schools around the world, 
three-quarters of children receiving a full series of DLL or Reading 
Recovery lessons are reading and writing at grade level standard by the 
end of first grade. These results are remarkable, considering these 
children began at the bottom of their class for reading and writing--
usually the lowest 10-20 percent. I commend the teachers, 
administrators, and students of Fort Bend ISD for their commitment to 
assuring literacy for all children.

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