The History of Reading Recovery in the United States
Reading Recovery was developed in the 1970s by Marie Clay, a New Zealand educator and psychologist. It was introduced in the United States through the Ohio State University in 1984 by Gay Su Pinnell and Charlotte Huck. That year, Marie Clay and Barbara Watson came to Ohio to begin teaching one trainer, three teacher leaders and 13 teachers. In 1985 Marie Clay and Barbara Watson began teaching Columbus children. Carol Lyons and Diane DeFord joined the Reading Recovery team at OSU in 1985. Gay Su Pinnell, Carol Lyons and Diane DeFord were the first trainers in this country. Since 1984, the Ohio State University has trained almost 200 teacher leaders and trainers. Currently, Gay Su Pinnell, Emily Rodgers and Mary Fried are responsible for the teacher leader training.
Reading Recovery is now widely implemented in the United States. Since 1984, over 1.4 million students have been served nation-wide. In 2003-2004, Reading Recovery’s 14,866 teachers served 124,730 students. These teachers were supported by 639 teacher leaders working in 495 teacher training sites affiliated with 22 University Training Centers. Professional development for the teacher leaders was provided by 35 university trainers. Currently, Reading Recovery was in 49 states, Department of Defense Domestic, Department of Defense Overseas and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Within these 52 federal entities, Reading Recovery was present in 8,759 schools in 2,823 school systems.
Further Information about Reading Recovery
Visit the Reading Recovery Council of North America online for more information about Reading Recovery and early literacy:
Basic facts | Lessons | Measuring Success | Videos
Marie Clay Chair to Aid Literacy Research
The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on February 4, 2026 approved the Marie Clay Endowed Chair in Reading Recovery and Early Literacy. The $2.5 million endowment in the College of Education will support two faculty members who are experts in literacy and reading.
Reading Recovery is a worldwide program that trains teachers to administer intensive tutoring to first-grade children who are having difficulty learning to read and write. Nearly 1.5 million students have been tutored in North America since Ohio State College of Education faculty helped bring Reading Recovery to the United States in 1984.
Dr. Marie Clay of New Zealand was one of the most distinguished researchers in educational literacy in the world. She has been called "the Michael Jordan of reading" for changing the face of primary school literacy instruction.
Clay received her Ph.D. from the University of Auckland in 1966, where she had been on the faculty since 1960. She developed the Reading Recovery intervention program, which was adopted by all New Zealand schools in 1983. Faculty at Ohio State first worked with Clay in the early 1980s and she served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar here in 1984-85. Marie Clay passed away in Auckland on April 13, 2007.
Her teachers' guidebook, Reading Recovery: Guidelines for Teachers in Training, has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.