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Viewpoint

A Tribute to Marie Clay

By Geraldine Haggard

I first met Marie Clay when she was a visiting speaker at Texas Woman’s University (TWU). I was with
the Plano ISD and had written grants for Head Start and Title One kindergarten—programs to support
young learners from low socioeconomic situations. The district was growing rapidly, and many of the
eligible children and their older siblings needed help. I obtained permission to spend a year at Ohio
State and become a Reading Recovery teacher and teacher leader. A visit to New Zealand, where Clay
practiced, allowed me to see the excitement in classrooms where children read and wrote all day.
The training for the Reading Recovery teacher leader requires a year. The regular first grade
teacher also needs to be willing to share the children in a flexible way as the two teachers work
together. The Reading Recovery teacher leader teaches in a classroom for half a day, doing one
Reading Recovery session daily. The money and time costs for such staffing can be countered by
the fact that fewer special education referrals are made for the academic and behavioral problems
that unsuccessful students often exhibit .
Training Reading Recovery teachers in a growing district was a joy and fruitful. I did this for 10
years before retiring and was subsequently invited to be a visiting teacher at TWU, teaching courses
for student teachers that included classes at the university and using what they learned while working
with individual students in a school. Clay was teaching there one of those years, and I got to know and
respect her and her counsel.

About Clay
A doctoral student at Auckland University,
Clay realized many students in her country were
being referred for special education. Yet, only a
few teachers referred students for help before such
placement. She based her dissertation on contacts
with and study of these teachers and 50 students
who were successful. How were these teachers and
students different?
She observed several common traits as
successful teachers worked with children. These Hands that Bind Four Generations of Women © Photograph
teachers were aware that reading is more than just by Mary Mehaffey, VA; 2021 DKG Fine Arts Gallery
letter or sound knowledge. Clay organized her
findings, labeled them “concepts of print”—the sample of the student. A “running record”
idea that children need to understand how printed identifies the instructional reading level of a
language works in order to become good readers— student and which of the concepts the child uses
and developed a diagnostic document. Each as strategies as he or she reads. Small groups
document has a suggested age level for success as of children called “guided reading groups” are
the child reads. These concepts can become part formed that allow students to develop new
of modeling and discussion, promote student use strategies and move to a new level of reading. A
with and without needed guidance, and enable the child can be moved to another group as soon as
readers and writers to use strategies for successful a running record document indicates he or she is
reading and writing. instructionally level with a 95% accuracy on the
Proper placement of students in the correct current placement in guided reading.
leveled book is determined by an oral reading

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