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Viewpoint
Clay once told me that she saw the child as
the lead as the child and teacher dance together.
She also described the strategic reader and writer
as one who is able to attend to something, act
upon it, and work with it. It was exciting to spend
a week in the Auckland school and observe the
teachers using Clay’s diagnostic tools, working
with groups of all sizes, and providing reading and
writing tasks all day. The students were active and
stayed on task. Students had the opportunity to
use strategies they had already developed and to
observe higher level strategies that were modeled.
At times, a student became the teacher with a
lower-level group or student. Content-area studies
were part of the reading and writing activities.
What I saw was students in the early stages
of reading developing what Clay called “inner
control.” In Becoming Literate (1991, p. 12) she
shared three strategies that successful readers
must use as they work out their own effective
approaches and can then read silently. Failing
readers seem less able to do these things:
1. Learn specific details about reproducible parts
of words.
2. Learn what to attend to and use features they
can remember.
3. Use their previous experiences and knowledge
to draw on networks of information while
reading or writing that word or another
word.
Support for Clay’s Methodology
Research by Carillo-Perilloux (2018)
in Louisiana addressed students who were
successfully discontinued from Reading Recovery
in Grade 1 and who later, as third graders, tested in work as an educator. Furthermore, I believe her
the highest student-sustained-reading achievement
groups in their schools. Doyle (2018) of the
University of Connecticut cited the recognition
that diagnostic teaching can direct the Reading
Dr. Geraldine Haggard is a 50+-year member of Iota Omega Chapter in Texas State Organization. She taught for 37 years in the Plano, Texas, school district. In 2021,
Haggard was recognized by Texas Woman’s University with their highest honor: the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to Society. ghaggard@twc.com
Recovery teacher as she guides the child who
might otherwise be recommended and labeled
as dyslexic. If the student does not demonstrate
growth after 20 Reading Recovery sessions, the
records of those sessions can be used to determine
a special plan for future help for the student in
reading and writing.
The Common Core State Standards (2021)
that give guidance to all primary teachers in the
United States include a category named “Print
Concepts.” Although her name is not mentioned,
all of Clay’s concepts are there; the role of the
teacher is outlined and strategies versus skills
are emphasized. This means that teachers need
to be trained to model, guide, and provide ways
for students to use the strategies as they develop
problem-solving approaches that enable them to
become fruitful readers and writers.
Clay’s techniques of early-literacy instruction
garnered the following honors for her:
• Dame Commander of the British Empire,
1987;
• New Zealander of the Year, 1998;
• International Reading Association Reading
Hall of Fame, 1982;
• David H. Russell Award from National Council
of Teachers of English; and
• Humanitarian Award for Reading Recovery
from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand,
United States, and United Kingdom.
Stirring the Waters: The Influence of Marie Clay
(Askew & Gaffney, 1999) includes a biography of
Clay’s life and essays written by literacy leaders
using Reading Recovery in six different countries.
I cherish the influence of Marie Clay on my
influence continues today as schools in countries
around the world continue to stir the waters to
support reading instruction using Clay’s concepts.
Collegial Exchange · 17