The Heinemann LLI Data Collection Project was conducted by Liz Ward, Ph.D., a researcher working for Heinemann under the direction of Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. This study was descriptive and described reading gains for students enrolled in the LLI System at 34 sites around the United States and Canada. Individual data forms reporting on student demographics, teacher experience, implementation parameters, and performance data for LLI students were completed by LLI teachers, collected at the district level, and sent to the researcher conducting the study. Each student's reading progress was determined by looking at their pre- and post-LLI instructional reading levels (ranging from Pre-A to Z), which were based on the F&P Text Level Gradient™. The instructional reading levels were obtained through the teachers' reports of their students' instructional reading levels, which were determined by administration of the Benchmark Assessment System or reading records or by the conversion to F&P levels on the teacher's reports of their students' score on other assessments including the DRA or DRA2, the Reading Recovery Observation Survey with Running Records, the PM Benchmark, and other reading assessments. The data were collected and reported for LLI students only. No control group was identified and assessed and therefore, the LLI student growth was compared to Fountas and Pinnell grade-level criteria for satisfactory progress.
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