The Literacy Trust, Inc. 

Program Developer Nora L Hoover, Ed.D.

Reading Rescue was developed in the 1990's by Nora Lee Hoover, Ed.D., in cooperation with the University of Florida where Dr. Hoover served in the College of Education's Department of Curriculum and Instruction (now the School of Teaching and Learning). During her years on the UF faculty Hoover taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate reading courses and regularly provided staff development in literacy for school districts earning consistently high evaluations from inservice and preservice teachers. Each fall semester Hoover directed the College's Reading Center, coaching students pursuing a Reading Specialization who were enrolled in her clinical block of courses as they worked one-on-one tutoring poor readers. Hoover's fascination with the challenges faced by struggling readers began the year started teaching and realized that she didn't know enough to help her struggling readers  - a discovery too many teachers are still making. Following a career in the classroom, and as a reading supervisor (during which she earned an MS in Reading), Hoover accepted a position in the Education Department at Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, where she taught a variety of courses, established a reading clinic, supervised student teachers in the public schools, provided training for school districts and began presenting at state and national conferences.  She went on to earn a doctorate in Reading at Virginia Tech and served one year on that faculty before accepting the position in Gainesville, Florida. In 1993, Mr. Larry Sullivan, then principal of Interlachen Elementary School in Putnam County, Florida,together with his staff, invited Dr. Hoover to develop a one-on-one tutoring program that would be provided by students by them during the regular school day. Over the next few years, Reading Rescue was enormously successful in that school and in several others districts. Between 1996 and 1998, grants from the Florida State Department of Education in combination with gifts from a private donor, Mr. Benedict Silverman, funded Reading Rescue's dissemination and evaluation by a team of researchers in five elementary schools throughout Florida. Different forms of the Gates Mc Ginitie Reading Tests  were used to measure students' pre and post performance with results demonstrating a cross-over effect: first graders whose incoming scores placed them in the bottom quartile and who received one-on-one Reading Rescue tutoring from a trained staff member at the end of the year out-performed the average and above average students. Recognizing Reading Rescue's potential as an economical and feasible intervention, in 1998, to better serve schools, Hoover resigned from her tenured position at UF and, with the help of benefactor Mr. Benedict A. Silverman, established a charitable, not-for-profit organization, The Literacy Trust, Inc. to sponsor Reading Rescue. In the ten years since, schools across seven states have implemented Reading Rescue programs. In addition to serving as the president of the organization, Dr. Hoover continues to tutor struggling readers, as do her Reading Rescue colleagues. A frequent presenter at national, regional and state conferences, and the author of numerous professional publications,  she reports that the most professionally rewarding moments for her are still those spent teaching: either struggling readers, or those who are preparing to help struggling readers succeed. Hoover can be reached at: hoover@literacytrust.org.

Experienced Staff