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Fountas & Pinnell reading levels (commonly referred to as "Fountas & Pinnell") are a proprietary system of reading levels developed by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell and published by Heinemann to support their Levelled Literacy Interventions (LLI) series of student readers and teacher resource products. [1] In its marketing material, Heinemann refers to its text levelling system by the trademark F&P Text Level Gradient. [2]
In this system, reading text is classified according to various parameters, such as word count, number of different words, number of high-frequency words, sentence length, sentence complexity, word repetitions, illustration support, etc. While classification is guided by these parameters, syllable type, an important consideration in beginning reading, is not considered as part of the leveling system. Small books containing a combination of text and illustrations are then provided to educators for each level. [3]
While young children display a wide distribution of reading skills, each level is tentatively associated with a school grade. Some schools adopt target reading levels for their pupils. This is the grade-level equivalence chart recommended by Fountas & Pinnell. [4] [5]
| Recommended grade | Fountas and Pinnell level |
|---|---|
| K | A, B, C, D |
| 1 | E, F, G, H, I, J |
| 2 | K, L, M |
| 3 | N, O, P |
| 4 | Q, R, S |
| 5 | T, U, V |
| 6 | W, X, Y |
| 7 and 8 | Z |
| High School/Adult | Z+ |
Alternative classifications of reading difficulties have been developed by various authors (Reading Recovery levels, DRA levels, Basal Levels, Lexile Levels, etc.). [4]
Criticism of LLI and the Fountas and Pinnell reading levels have focused on three main issues: the amount and sequencing of phonics instruction in the series; the research evidence for the program's effectiveness; and the program's underlying model of reading.
The What Works Clearinghouse reported on two randomized studies of LLI with students in kindergarten through second grades and found small effects (0.22) from measures other than the assessment used within the F&P Text Level Gradient system. [6] Additional independent research found that students in second and third grades grew significantly less on weekly progress monitoring assessment with LLI as compared to targeted small-group intervention and as compared to growth of proficient readers who received no intervention. [7] A meta-analysis of 21 studies found that the F&P Text Level Gradient system did not lead to effective reading fluency interventions. [8]
Matthew Burns, a reading researcher at the University of Florida, has studied assessments within the F&P Text Level Gradient system and found that they result in 54% total accuracy and correctly identify low readers only 31% of the time. [9] Low readers also did not successfully read the books that were supposedly at their level according to the gradient system. [10]
The Ontario Human Rights Commission created a giant meta-report "Right to Read: public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities", has in part 8 "Curriculum and instruction" devoted to criticizing whole language systems, cueing systems, and also specifically Fountas & Pinnell's balanced literacy in sections titled "Ineffective methods for teaching reading" and "Balanced Literacy".
The section on Balanced Literacy iterates "balanced literacy" as a term is deceptive, and its claims of scientific approaches are meritless. It continues to say balanced literacy is also especially harmful for at-risk students while failing all students in general.
On December 4, 2024, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts, USA. [11] The defendants are the educational publishing company Heinemann, as well as authors Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, and others. The suit claims they falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based". [12] [13]
Whole language is a philosophy of reading and a discredited educational method originally developed for teaching literacy in English to young children. The method became a major model for education in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, despite there being no scientific support for the method's effectiveness. It is based on the premise that learning to read English comes naturally to humans, especially young children, in the same way that learning to speak develops naturally.
Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written language. Phonics is also known as the alphabetic principle or the alphabetic code. It can be used with any writing system that is alphabetic, such as that of English, Russian, and most other languages. Phonics is also sometimes used as part of the process of teaching Chinese people to read and write Chinese characters, which are not alphabetic, using pinyin, which is alphabetic.
Reading comprehension is the ability to process written text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. Reading comprehension relies on two abilities that are connected to each other: word reading and language comprehension. Comprehension specifically is a "creative, multifaceted process" that is dependent upon four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Reading comprehension is a part of literacy.
DIBELS is a series of short tests designed to evaluate key literacy skills among students in kindergarten through 8th grade, such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The theory behind DIBELS is that giving students a number of quick tests, will allow educators to identify students who need additional assistance and later monitor the effectiveness of intervention strategies.
Synthetic phonics, also known as blended phonics or inductive phonics, is a method of teaching English reading which first teaches letter-sounds and then how to blend (synthesise) these sounds to achieve full pronunciation of whole words.
Interactive writing has been described by Swartz (2001) as "a teaching method in which children and teacher negotiate what they are going to write and then share the pen to construct the message." Interactive writing is a cooperative event in which text is jointly composed and written. The teacher uses the interactive writing session to model reading and writing strategies as he or she engages children in creating text.
In education, Response to Intervention is an academic approach used to provide early, systematic, and appropriately intensive supplemental instruction and support to children who are at risk of or currently performing below grade or age level standards. However, to better reflect the transition toward a more comprehensive approach to intervention, there has been a shift in recent years from the terminology referring to RTI to MTSS, which stands for "multi-tiered system of supports". MTSS represents the latest intervention framework that is being implemented to systematically meet the wider needs which influence student learning and performance.
Miscue analysis was originally developed by Ken Goodman for the purpose of understanding the reading process. It is a diagnostic tool that helps researchers/teachers gain insight into the reading process.
Guided reading is "small-group reading instruction designed to provide differentiated teaching that supports students in developing reading proficiency". The small group model allows students to be taught in a way that is intended to be more focused on their specific needs, accelerating their progress.
A literature circle is equivalent for young people of an adult book club, but with greater structure, expectation and rigor. The aim is to encourage thoughtful discussion and a love of reading in young people. The intent of literature circles is "to allow students to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers".
Adolescent literacy refers to the ability of adolescents to read and write. Adolescence is a period of rapid psychological and neurological development, during which children develop morally, cognitively, and socially. All of these three types of development have influence—to varying degrees—on the development of literacy skills.
Shared reading is an instructional approach in which the teacher explicitly models the strategies and skills of proficient readers.
Balanced literacy is a theory of teaching reading and writing the English language that arose in the 1990s and has a variety of interpretations. For some, balanced literacy strikes a balance between whole language and phonics and puts an end to the so called "reading wars". Others say balanced literacy, in practice, usually means the whole language approach to reading.
The most recent comprehensive data on adult literacy in the United States come from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) study conducted in stages from 2012 to 2017 by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). English literacy test results from 2014 suggest that 21% of U.S. adults ages 16 to 65 score at or below PIAAC literacy level 1, meaning they have difficulty "[completing] tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences." Included in that 21% is the 4.2% of respondents who were unable to be assessed due to language barriers, cognitive disability, or physical disability. A 2020 study by the Gallup analysis company funded by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy estimated that getting all U.S. adults to at least PIAAC literacy level 3 proficiency would raise American's incomes by $2.2 trillion.
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch.
LLI or Lli may refer to:
The Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers with reading resources such as books and articles. Readers and texts are assigned a Lexile score, where lower scores reflect easier readability for texts and lower reading ability for readers. Lexile scores are assigned based on individual words and sentence length, rather than qualitative analysis of the content. Thus, Lexile scores do not reflect multiple levels of textual meaning or the maturity of the content. The United States Common Core State Standards recommend the use of alternative, qualitative methods to select books for grade 6 and above. In the U.S., Lexile measures are reported annually from reading programs and assessments. According to LightSail Education, about half of U.S. students in grades 3-12 receive a Lexile measure each year. The Georgia Department of Education provides resources for using Lexile measures.
READ 180 is a reading intervention program in the USA. It was created by the Scholastic Corporation (Scholastic). Its focus is to utilize adaptive technology to improve literacy in students in Grades 4–12 who read at least two years below their grade level.
Gay Su Pinnell is an American educational theorist and a professor emerita at the School of Teaching and Learning at the Ohio State University. She is best known for her work with Irene Fountas on literacy and guided reading, a teaching framework that laid the groundwork for the Fountas and Pinnell reading levels.
The history of learning to read dates back to the invention of writing during the 4th millennium BC.