About LIT-Pro

Explore the background, research questions, and methods of the LIT-Pro study

Overview

LIT-Pro is a study of Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), a fully developed, commercially available, and widely used professional development program for Pre-K–5 educators in the U.S. Many schools across the country use LETRS to help teachers strengthen literacy instruction, but there is limited evidence regarding its impact on teacher and student outcomes, and to date, LETRS has not been rigorously tested. Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and led by a team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine; The Ohio State University; and the University of Cincinnati, this study seeks to address this critical gap and provide a better understanding of LETRS and its effects on teacher knowledge, teacher instructional practice, and student literacy outcomes.

What is LETRS?

  • Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) is a fully developed and widely used teacher professional development program.

  • 2-year program

    • Volume 1 in Year 1 focuses on code-focused knowledge (e.g., phonology and phonemic awareness; grapheme-phoneme correspondences; orthography, orthographic patterns, and orthographic mapping; morphology and structural analysis; fluency).

    • Volume 2 in Year 2 focuses on meaning-focused knowledge (e.g., semantics/vocabulary; comprehension and subskills such as inferencing; background knowledge; text structures; syntax; writing and reading-writing connections).

  • LETRS recognizes the importance of implementation context, such as teacher characteristics, school-level characteristics, readiness for implementation, curriculum, school culture and climate, leadership and systems support.

A teacher reads a book aloud to a group of elementary school children seated together in a classroom

Study Design

Research Questions:

This study addresses the following research questions:

  • What is the efficacy of LETRS on teacher knowledge, teacher instructional practice, and student literacy outcomes?

  • Are effects of LETRS moderated by characteristics of the implementation context (student, teacher, and school characteristics)?

  • Are the effects of LETRS moderated by implementation inputs, activities, and outputs?

  • Are effects of LETRS on student outcomes mediated by teacher knowledge and practice?

  • What is the total cost and cost effectiveness of LETRS?

Study Design & Methods:

The study is a multisite (school) cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving two cohorts of teachers and their enrolled students in Orange County, California.

The counterfactual condition is business-as-usual (BAU) in order to evaluate the effect of LETRS compared to what is available in schools (real-world context).

Participants:

  • 60 elementary schools

  • 240 Grade 1 and Grade 3 teachers

  • 1,920 Grade 1 and Grade 3 students

Timeline:

5-year study period (2024-2029)

Project timeline showing five years of the study (2024–2029), including preparation in Year 1, Cohort 1 implementation in Years 2–3, Cohort 2 implementation in Years 3–4, and final data analysis and dissemination in Year 5.

Preregistration:

To promote transparency and research integrity, this study was preregistered prior to data collection and analysis. The preregistration outlines the research questions, hypotheses, study design, and planned analyses, and is publicly accessible at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/W92MU.

Additional Information

For more detailed information about the study, see the IES grant announcement.

NCER grant announcement: Investigating the Impact of the LETRS Program on Teacher Knowledge, Instructional Practice, and Student Literacy Outcomes

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