Accelerated Reader

Is It Worth It?

Facts about Accelerated Reader

A reading incentive program that provides continual progress updates

Currently used in 75,000 schools nation-wide Created by a mother who wanted to check to

see if her children had read their books from the library

Renaissance Place is the newest version of AR

Old Version of A.R.: Desktop Version

Quizzes must be purchased individually Lower overall cost depending on number of

quizzes purchased $2.99 for each quiz District must maintain local server

New Version of AR: Renaissance Place

All quizzes available that Renaissance Learning has created

Campus is linked to server at Renaissance Learning Technical support through company Ren Place version provides access to Literacy Skills

quizzes and Vocabulary quizzes Cost is greater but more options are available

Misconceptions about A.R.

Program requires incentives Program requires teachers to assign an

arbitrary number of points Program encourages teachers to base part of

students’ Lang. Arts grade on their participation in Accelerated Reader

Program is difficult to set up and maintain

Advantages of A.R.

Motivates students to read Immediate results given to students on progress Perfect for English language learners Recorded voice quizzes useful for primary level books

and students 30 reports available to monitor student progress Literacy skills quizzes assess higher order thinking

skills AR records can follow student from school to school

Criticisms of A.R.

Reading Practice quizzes only test recall – not higher level reading skills

Lack of availability of books in library to support the program

Program criticized by teachers and parents for various reasons – many times regarding setting of goals

Current Research

ERIC Educational Database What Works Clearinghouse studies National Center on Student Progress

Monitoring

Conclusions:

Accelerated Reader successful when used correctly Training through Renaissance Learning is the ideal An experienced librarian or teacher should train

teachers on campus who use the program Parents should be educated about program when

child enters the program Ideal for struggling readers all the way to students

reading at the college level

Citations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Reader http://www.studentprogress.org/doc/

Tools_review_StudentProgress_small_new_March2007.pdf