Curriculum Name: Leveled Literacy Intervention

Publisher: Fountas & Pinnell

Copyright: 2013 Heinemann

Research Rationale
Harrison, L., Peterman, R., Grehan, A., Ross, S., Dexter, E., & Inan, F. (2008).
Evaluation of the Leveled Literacy Intervention. Retrieved from
http://www.memphis.edu/crep/pdfs/AERA_08-LLI.pdf.

This article reviewed a study that was conducted on the effectiveness of LLI. It looked at
questionnaires that were administered to reading teachers who taught the intervention, as
well as measured student progress over the course of a 14-week intervention (not the
usual 18 weeks). The questionnaires showed that most teachers liked LLI and believed it
offered many benefits to their struggling readers. There were some components they
believed needed improvement, mainly involving the activities in the lesson. They also
believed they would benefit from more formal training in administering LLI, but felt
overall that LLI had improved their reading instruction. The student results showed that
the majority of them had made progress in both reading and writing skills. The greatest
progress was made by the youngest group (kindergarteners), which supports the belief
that the earlier the intervention is given, the more effective it will be.

Ransford-Kaldon, C., Flynt, E. S., & Ross, C. (2011). A Randomized Controlled Trial of
a Response-to-Intervention Tier 2 Literacy Program: Leveled Literacy
Intervention. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED518772.pdf

This study also looked at the effectiveness of using LLI as an intervention for children in
grades K-2. It compared reading growth in students receiving the intervention in addition
to classroom instruction to students just receiving regular reading instruction in a
classroom. The students in the intervention groups met daily for a half hour each day for
the entire 18 weeks of the program. The results showed that the students who had
received the intervention scored higher both on the LLI benchmarks and DIBELS
assessments. ELL and special education students in particular made significant
improvements.

Program objective
During PAWS instruction, Student B will answer three comprehension questions on the
current book with all questions answered accurately across 5 consecutive trials.

I chose this objective because Student B reads semi-fluently but sometimes rushes
through the book. I think he would benefit from reading at a slower pace and re-reading
some pages so that his comprehension of the material increases.

Generalization
I will know if students are generalizing if they are able to complete the same skills across
different books in the lessons. In addition, if their decoding, pronunciation, and
comprehension skills improve outside of PAWS time, I will be able to tell that they are
generalizing the skills. I could take data on running records as well as decoding and
comprehension assessments on reading material that is not included in the LLI lesson.
This will show me whether or not the students have generalized the skills.

Rationale
This intervention was chosen because it is comprehensive and aims to improve a variety
of different skills at the same time, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
comprehension, and vocabulary. It aims to bring students up to grade-level following the
intervention. There are many different activities incorporated into each lesson, which
keeps students engaged and active learners during instruction.
So far, I really like the way that the LLI lessons are set up, and the two students I am
instructing seem to enjoy it as well. They stay engaged in each lesson and seem to
genuinely enjoy the books we read as well as the activities in the lessons.

Assessments/Data Collection
Running records are taken during every other lesson. This tracks and evaluates the
number of student errors while they read the book that corresponds with the current
lesson. The teacher administers the assessment and listens to the student read, following
along and marking errors on a score sheet.

Comprehension assessments are also given every other lesson. This tracks and evaluates
how well the student understands the story. The teacher administers this assessment by
asking three comprehension questions to the student. The teacher marks a 0, 1, 2, or 3
depending on the students answer. It is somewhat subjective, but there are sample
responses written into the lesson, which should guide the teacher as to what constitutes an
appropriate response to a question.

A fluency assessment is given every other lesson, but it is somewhat subjective. The
teacher circles a 0, 1, 2, or 3 depending on the level of fluency she believes the student
was at while reading the current book.


Instructional Procedures/Reinforcement/Error Correction
Some direct instruction is used in this program. Small parts of the lessons are scripted or
have suggested phrases for the reading interventionist to use while speaking. However,
there is some room for the teacher to decide how to run the lesson. There are a variety of
activities in each lesson that the teacher can choose from, such as having students
practice writing word patterns or sentences in their Writing Books or doing word work
using Poetry Books.

The lesson starts out with reviewing the previous lessons book. Every other lesson, the
teacher takes a running record as well as comprehension and fluency assessments to one
student while the other reads silently to himself.

Next, the teacher does word work with the students, which may consist of talking about
certain word patterns, sounds, etc. and the students writing in their Writing Books. It can
also include discussing parts of the book and coming up with sentences about it. The
teacher can model writing on a white board. Typically, students use the right side of the
Writing Books for the word work and sentence writing, and the left side can be used for
additional practice, such as sounding out words using word boxes.

Finally, the new book is introduced. Teachers can introduce the text in a variety of ways,
including previewing pictures, asking students to make predictions, or modeling reading.
Then students read the book aloud for the last portion of the lesson.

Each night students should take home the previous lessons book for additional reading
practice.

Maintenance
If students meet criteria for success, they no longer need to continue the LLI intervention.
However, if the student is still not at grade level but is making steady progress with LLI,
teachers may choose to continue using LLI since it is showing to be effective for the
student.

Maintenance can be measured by administering assessments that test the skills the student
has gained in the intervention. For instance, teachers can administer running records,
fluency tests, and comprehension tests. If the student showed success on those
assessments during the intervention and has maintained the skills, they should continue to
show success on these types of assessments once the intervention has ended.