Irene Fountas

Irene C. Fountas is an American educator and Professor Emeritus at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she holds the Marie M. Clay Endowed Chair for Early Literacy and Reading Recovery and directs the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative in the Graduate School of Education. A former classroom teacher, language arts specialist, and literacy consultant in school districts across the United States and abroad, her research and writing focus on comprehensive PreK–8 literacy development and instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, writing, language development, coaching, and systemic school improvement.

Fountas earned her BS, MEd, CAGS, and EdD from Boston University, and has received multiple honors for her contributions to literacy, including the International Literacy Association’s Diane Lapp & James Flood Professional Collaborator Award and the Celebrate Literacy Award from the Greater Boston Council and the International Reading Association. With her long-time coauthor Gay Su Pinnell, she is known for influential works on guided reading and balanced literacy, including the Fountas & Pinnell literacy framework and reading levels, and has coauthored an extensive catalog of professional books and resources published by Heinemann and Scholastic.