The Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI) is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention for students who find reading and writing difficult. The goal of LLI is to lift the literacy achievement of students who are not achieving grade-level expectations in reading. The LLI systems are designed to:

• Advance the literacy learning of students not meeting grade-level expectations in reading
• Deepen and expand comprehension with close reading
• Elevate the expertise of teachers
• Increase reading volume by engaging students in large amounts of successful daily reading
• Increase student engagement with books that build knowledge
• Intervene with small groups of struggling readers to maximize growth
• Meet the needs of struggling readers
• Monitor student progress.

The LLI systems are designed to be used with small groups of students who need intensive support to achieve grade-level competencies in grades K through 5+. It also provides strong support for students who are acquiring English as an additional language and are receiving classroom reading instruction in English. You may also decide to include students who are identified as having special needs if the content of LLI meets the educational program specifications for the student.

Leveled Literacy Intervention systems for Primary, Intermediate, and Upper grades all feature a wide selection of engaging, carefully written and leveled student books and fast-paced lessons designed for students who are falling below grade-level expectations in reading. Each system also includes tools to facilitate successful implementation.

When implementing LLI, the first goal is to identify the students that need intensive support to reach grade-level competencies and find the instructional reading level for each of them.  For entry into LLI, it will be necessary to assess the students’ instructional and independent reading levels. The more precise the initial assessment, the more effective teaching will be.

Fountas and Pinnell recommend that schools use the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System to determine the instructional reading level for each student. For schools that do not have access to the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, teachers can:

• Use other benchmark assessments you have in your school or district.
• Use the information from any alternative assessments used in the district.

Schools may have many students who do not meet expectations for grade-level reading, or cannot fully participate and learn from the level of instruction in the classroom. These students benefit from LLI.

In forming LLI groups, it is ideal to meet individual needs and provide the very specific instruction each reader needs to move forward. Once the instructional levels of the students are determined, small groups of readers who are similar enough that teachers can begin lessons at a particular level can be formed. The priority should be to group students efficiently and effectively so that you can teach them at the appropriate level.