Compulsory schooling, such as exists in Australia, does not guarantee literacy in the nation. The literature has established that a minority of children do fail to learn to read and write effectively. Failure to learn to read presents a serious disability to those concerned. Programs such as Reading Recovery are used in schools to try and identify at risk children and work with them to reduce illiteracy. Traditional methods of addressing the literacy problem have not proven to be effective. Studies in New Zealand, the U.S.A. and in Australia have established that Reading Recovery is an effective program. However, there is no longitudinal evidence to establish whether it is effective in the long run in the A.C.T. This study sought to establish the long term effectiveness of the program in the A.C.T. It has compared discontinued Reading Recovery children three and five years after they had been discontinued from the program with two 'average ' children from their current class. The discontinued Reading Recovery sample was drawn by random. The two classmate control children were selected by the teachers as performing in the average band of class achievement in reading. Four research instruments were chosen to collect the data. These were, interviews with class teachers and the children themselves, running records, a modified standardized test and an oral retell. The study confirmed that Reading Recovery is effective in the A.C.T. and that gains made whilst on the program were sustained in subsequent years. This being the case, every child who is being diagnosed as 'at risk' should have access to Reading Recovery .