"Leveled Literacy Intervention" ("LLI") is a short-term, supplementary, small-group literacy intervention designed to help struggling readers achieve grade-level competency. The intervention provides explicit instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, oral language skills, and…

Despite extensive research on phonological awareness and reading, there has been little effort to study practical questions that would assist practitioners regarding the choice and interpretation of the phonological awareness tests available to them. This study examined the relationship between decoding (real and pseudowords) and three…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention for second graders at risk for academic failure, which taught reading comprehension embedded in social studies content. The intervention included instruction about the structure of cause/effect expository text, emphasizing clue words, generic questions, graphic organizers, and close…

This study examined whether the "Experience Corps" program improved the reading skills of elementary school students who were at risk of academic failure. Nearly 900 first through third grade students in 23 schools in Boston, New York City, and Port Arthur, TX participated in the study. These students were randomly assigned to either a…

In this article, the author explores the implementation of the K-3 Reading First initiative and its recommendation for scientifically based reading curricula. During a time of high-stakes testing and accountability, this policy has emphasized a skills-based approach to reading and placed importance on scripted teaching models. Using data from a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the issues of elementary teacher preparation for teaching literacy and teacher preparation for teaching literacy to diverse populations. This study contrasted primary teachers' literacy preparation and practice in high, middle, and low achieving and high, average, and low need schools in New York State.…

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the efficacy of the Leveled Literacy Intervention program (LLI) in increasing reading achievement for K-2 students and (2) to examine LLI program implementation fidelity. This study evaluated LLI in two U.S. school districts and used a mixed-method design to address the following key research…

This report summarizes evaluation results for an efficacy study of the Leveled Literacy Intervention system (LLI) implemented in Tift County Schools (TCS) in Georgia and the Enlarged City School District of Middletown (ECSDM) in New York during the 2009-2010 school year. Developed by Fountas & Pinnell (2009) and published by Heinemann, LLI is…

"Fluency Formula"[TM] is a supplemental curriculum designed to promote reading fluency for first- through sixth-grade students. The program emphasizes automatic recognition of words, decoding accuracy, and oral expressiveness as the foundation for building reading fluency. A daily 10- to 15-minute lesson is delivered in the classroom.…

This descriptive study focuses on the understandings expressed by nine second graders about themselves as readers and looks at the direct experiences of the students in their reading groups. Findings suggest that these proficient and less proficient readers hold very different perceptions of themselves as readers and that these perceptions are…