Leveled Literacy Intervention¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 6 claims (5 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 quant-synthesis),q3· 1 of 1 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study
Description¶
Leveled Literacy Intervention is a Fountas & Pinnell literacy intervention programme providing daily small-group tutoring for struggling readers, typically in kindergarten through grade 2.
Components¶
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI): daily 30-minute small-group tutoring for struggling K-2 readers: LLI is a one-to-three small-group tutoring model taught by literacy specialists to struggling readers in grades K-2. Sessions last 30 minutes each day for about 16-18 weeks, covering "oral language, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension". Lessons alternate between independent-level and more challenging instructional-level texts that students may take home or to class. (Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) evidence summary (2010))
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI): LLI is a short-term, supplementary, small-group literacy intervention designed to help struggling readers achieve grade-level competency, developed by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell in 2009. It delivers "explicit instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, oral language skills, and writing" through fast-paced daily lessons in which teachers alternate texts at students' independent and instructional levels. The Primary Systems (K–2) are intended to run 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 12–18 weeks with groups of three students. (Leveled Literacy Intervention (2017))
- Alternating independent-level and instructional-level texts across tutoring lessons: Within LLI, lessons alternate between "independent level" texts and more challenging "instructional level" texts. The instructional-level texts may also be taken back to students' classrooms or homes, extending the tutoring texts into classroom and home reading. (Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) evidence summary (2010))
Claims¶
- Leveled Literacy Intervention has positive effects on general reading achievement, potentially positive effects on reading fluency, and no discernible effects on alphabetics for beginning readers in grades K–2 [+M]
- In the 2010 RCT, LLI produced a statistically significant positive effect on reading fluency for grades 1–2 (effect size 0.27, improvement index +11) [+M]
- In a 2010 RCT in Georgia and New York, LLI produced a statistically significant positive effect on general reading achievement (effect size 0.35, improvement index +14) [+M]
- In a 2013 Denver RCT, LLI showed a statistically significant positive effect on BAS reading achievement, a negative but non-significant difference on DRA2, and a positive but non-significant difference on STAR for female students in grades 1–2 [+M]
- In the 2010 RCT, LLI showed no discernible effects on alphabetics (domain average effect size 0.13, not statistically significant) [~M]
- In the 2013 RCT, subgroup findings for female students in grades 1–2 on the STAR Early Literacy Assessment were positive but not statistically significant, yet large enough to be considered substantively important [+M]
Related Products and Programmes¶
-
Key Sources¶
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) evidence summary. (2010). Evidence review of two qualifying studies. https://evidenceforessa.org/program/fountas-pinnell-leveled-literacy-intervention-lli/
- Leveled Literacy Intervention. (2017). What Works Clearinghouse Beginning Reading intervention report. U.S. Department of Education. http://www.fountasandpinnell.com/intervention/
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) evidence summary. (2010). Evidence review of two qualifying studies. https://www.heinemann.com
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
leveled-literacy-intervention |
title |
Leveled Literacy Intervention |
description |
Leveled Literacy Intervention is a Fountas & Pinnell literacy intervention programme providing daily small-group tutoring for struggling readers, typically in kindergarten through grade 2. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
design/alternating-independent-instructional-level-texts, element/leveled-literacy-intervention-program, element/leveled-literacy-intervention-system |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — leveled-literacy-intervention-lli-evidence-summary-2010, leveled-literacy-intervention-2017 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.