Accelerated Reader??

[Tracy Varner]

Howdy!

I just had two fourth-grade teachers ask me about starting an AR program at my K-6 elementary school. Have any of you had experience with AR? Are any of you using it now? Do you know what would be involved in getting the library/MARC records ready to launch an AR program? Any idea how expensive it might be or how long it would take to establish? Did/do you have positive results using the program? Sorry for all of the questions, but they invited me to attend a meeting with them and our principal tomorrow morning, and I want to be prepared to intelligently discuss the issue.

Thanks for your expertise!
Tracy

[Jennifer Armour]

I would really investigate to see if this would be worth the investment. We had AR at my old school. I used it as a reading incentive because the librarian had a "store" set up so the kids could purchase items with their points. Other teachers used it as part of their grade, but that left the kids scrambling to read only books that were worth enough points to pass that part of the class. To me, it seemed to take the joy out of reading when it was for a grade.

[Cheryl Hill]

Renaissance Learning, the creators of the Accelerated Reader Program, recommends highly that grades "not” be a component of the AR Program and in those instances whereby teachers do so, I am generally of the opinion that teachers’ judgment and flexibility to include an AR grade and/or grades could be an option; however, care should be taken that it is done in a positive, motivational manner in that an AR grade exhibiting high achievement (85-100%) could be averaged into the reading average as an incentive or bonus to enhance students’ overall reading average, but , otherwise, certainly, it should not be regimented, enforced, and, thus impact in a punitive manner because then, this increases the chance of such a practice becoming burdensome, labored, and translating into a less positive fashion of implementation which takes away from the motivational inspiring component of developing increased reading comprehension through the simultaneous building of the love of books and the love of reading for the sheer pleasure of it all as is the essential goal of the Accelerated Reader Program. Moreover, when students read for the sheer pleasure of it all, it becomes a life-long learning attribute; furthermore when kids read what they want to read based on interest, their reading proficiency increases while they enjoy themselves in the process without being forced feed. And when reading averages reach 85-100% as reflected by tests taken on the computer about books read that the students liked and wanted to read; this is the accuracy level which transmits and transfers to impact all other curriculum/subject areas.

Consequently, if the Accelerated Reader Program is implemented correctly, it delivers what we seek and desire for students whether we are parents, teachers, librarians, other literacy professionals, or administrators.

[Tara Brooks]

Personally I don't like AR. This program would be beneficial if it were used correctly. Unfortunately, I have heard more horror stories than success stories. Most the time students are point driven rather than wanting to read for enjoyment. I have had students who walk into the library and look at a book and get excited by the cover or the summary on the jacket. Then when they find out it is not AR, not in their grade level, or not worth enough points, put it down. This makes me hate AR. We have several teachers who rely heavily on AR for their grading. Very frustrating!

[Cheryl Hill]

Yes, I agree with your sentiments if the AR Program is being implemented in the manner you describe, it is understandable that you would not like it. However, we have implemented the quality over quantity emphasis at my school in that we do not focus on points; which means that we reward students who read lots of books and simultaneously maintain an 85-100 % average on the reading comprehension tests taken on books read. We additionally deviate to make our own house rules in that we also reward students based upon the number of books read, even if they fall a little shy of the preferred average so if they range in the 75-80 % average range, but they have read more books than some of the other students in the 85-100%, we reward this category of students also. We also give Reading Certificates to students who reach a certain reading proficency, Rising Reader, Independent Reader, Super Reader, Star Reader, Classic Reader, etc. Since we do not focus on points, I do not run into the problem you describe. Therefore, we offer other opportunities for students to earn recognition for loving to read books that does not focus on points.
Moreover, there are some books, not many, but there are some that do not have a matching AR quiz. Nonetheless, we do not let that stand in the way of a student wanting to read that particular book whether it happens to have a matching quiz or not. Furthermore even if a book has a matching quiz, we do not require that students must quiz on every book that he or she reads if they choose not to. There is a component whereby a teacher can create his or her own quiz if a book does not have a quiz. A teacher at my school illustrated a book a few years ago and it was self published and she had read this particular book to her class; with my assistance, she went into the AR program and created her own quiz to match this particular book so her students could quiz on it if they desired to do so. Most of them did take the quiz because they loved the book plus they were excited because this book had been illustrated by their own teacher.

I guess I have a lot to be thankful for because I was apart of the initial implementation of the AR Program on our campus so I had lots of input as to how the program would be operated.

[Susan H]

I have AR in my K-6 school with about 750 kids. We have used it in 1-6th grade and the program has seen MANY faces over the years. Like many new librarians, it was here when I got here and I use it by administrative directive not by choice. In my school we do have the enterprise version, which now gives you ALL of the quizzes, but can you imagine how long it takes to look up and MARK all of your libraries 20,000 books with AR labels? Then, this past year they changed the way the books were leveled in the middle of the game! Now I have to RE-LABEL ALL OF THEM, it IS a nightmare with this alone. I also dread the question: "Is this book AR?" Not only does it take away time, but it defeats the purpose of reading. If you want to level your books, that is one thing, but I DO have kids (with teacher instruction/encouragement) that will not read books simply because they are not on AR.......my pet peave #1 with AR.
Pet Peave #2: You are inherently saying that reading is SOOOO awful that I have to bribe you to do it. At least that is the way it is at most schools. In my school we do have a program that rewards students for getting so many points, and reaching the next point club. Teachers have parties when their class wins the banner for the most points. Kids get to go to parties only if they have X number of points, it is ridiculous.
How we COULD be doing it right: I would like to hand it off to the teachers and say that they can use it as a diagnostic tool to determine students reading comprehension and use it IN THE CLASSROOM on a student by student basis with individual tailored goals, there would be NO schoolwide program......why should we have one? What does it do for you? I really do not think it encourages reading. In fact most kids in my school are so turned off by it that by 5th and 6th grade they are not readers anymore and do not want to have anything to do with AR.
Bottom line: Stay away unless you have really good reasons to want to use it on a classroom level.

[Cheryl Hill]

We upgraded recently to the enterprise version so we never have to worry about not having a quiz if, indeed, a book has a matching quiz. Again, I think why it might be working at my school is that I had a choice about how we would implement it. I had the choice about labeling books or not. I chose not to do. Some of my books are, now, labeled because the newer books arrived labeled already by the book vendors. At my school, teachers are not mandated to implement AR; they have the option to implement AR in their respective classrooms or not. I support those teachers who use AR and I am the Program Administrator. No one directs me to do it this way or that way. I like the way we run AR on my campus. Although, we use AR, we don’t obsess about it and/or are consumed by it. Collaboration is a challenge since I am on a mostly restricted ancillary schedule and not a flexible one; therefore, I consider my involvement with AR as a collaborative opportunity.

[Donna Eddings]

I believe AR works fine if it is used as an incentive and with younger students. I don't think it works well with older students or when used as part of a grade. If I did not already have an established program, I do not believe I would start one,since there so much new technology that can be used now to get students interested in reading.

[Sue Jones]

I've had people say you could look at the incentive a different way: reading is actually worth rewarding. Think of all the benefits student athletes get... okay, I *try* to look at it that way, but I, too, recoil at the "Sit up and smile! here's a treat for reading!" and making **everything** competitive. Sheesh. Keep it in the classroom, do.
(Pet Peeve # 3: spelling peeve right... )

[Laura Philip]

This whole conversation thread has been so informative -- thanks! I am interviewing at a school that has AR, and coming from one that does not, so it is nice to hear the pros and cons as I proceed. If a child has a book that they would like to read that is not AR, could the student complete an independent project for that book (i.e. write a letter to the author, create an alternate ending, etc) for points? Does anyone who uses AR have experience handling this situation?

Personally, it irks me to no end that projects be associated with reading for pleasure (kind of takes the "pleasure" part out of it if there is a project/grade associated with it), but sometimes you have to do what the administration asks.

[L Samuels]

AR is a tool much like a hammer. It can be used to build the Taj Mahal or break rocks to dust. I strongly recommend careful consideration and LOTS of pre-planning. Most schools typically implement the public recognition system (move your name along a wall each time you achieve a book, points...) which is great if you love to read. However, if you struggle to read this reinforces that you are a poor reader in a very public forum. Schools will frequently reward students with trips the "AR" store, give away prizes to the highest point earners. Again, if you are a struggling reader it is very difficult to buy the "good" stuff or win the big prize. Another pitfall, in my opinion, is the public labeling of the library books with reading levels and point values. In my experience, students did not choose books they wanted to read but because they were assigned a reading level by the teacher or based on the number of points. Teachers will often use the AR scores for grades without keeping in mind that there are frequently only 5 or 10 questions. The percentage correct doesn't translate well to the grade book. Miss one question out of 5 and it is difficult to get a passing grade.

All that said, it can be a tool when used carefully to build readers. I had one teacher who did an outstanding job of constructing a program. The program centered on privacy, celebration of personal success and freedom of reading choices. The kids kept personal charts, set personal goals and read anything they wanted to meet that goal. At the end of each period we would celebrate the chart line moving up. The kids enjoyed reading and making us do crazy celebration dances over an upward line.
Good luck! Lara

[Barb Odanaka]

I am not a librarian, but as a children's book author, I have been concerned about the ways AR seems to turn reading into another "do it for the reward and reward only" activity. Lara, those are really good points you made about how it can adversely affect struggling readers! How miserable it must be to see one's name as the worst reader in the class.

My son started taught himself to read at age 3, but he would never participate in summer library reading programs. He said he would not be "bribed" to read (his words). I empathize with the struggle to get 21st Century students to put down their techno toys and pick up a book, but reading programs like AR definitely concern me. My personal wish is that more parents (including myself!) put away their laptops, iPhones, etc. for at least 30 mins a day and make family reading a special all-family treat.

[Cheryl Hill]

Well like anything there are pros and cons, and certainly, there are pros and cons regarding the Accelerated Reader Program; however, as librarians and classroom teachers in today's world of competing technologies for students’ interests and time, it is a struggle to build a culture of reading within today’s students. Therefore, with careful implementation, Accelerated Reader is a tool for building a culture of reading. When used correctly, AR builds motivation for reading whatever students want to read, pleasurably, individualized to their personal reading ranges from low to high which is called a ZPD--zone of proximal development--according to research, a student's ZPD, reading range is one which produces optimal reading growth, individualized, and tailored to each respective student.

Now, there are those who offer counter debate in discussion not being favorable to the Accelerated Reader Program. Some even say that AR makes a public exhibition of struggling readers. In my humble opinion, I think to the contrary; if handled correctly, this is not so. When students are reading at a range specific to their reading strengths and thus can comprehend what they read successfully, this, indeed is what accelerates their reading.

I'm lucky because no one directs me to implement the Accelerated Reader Program this way or that way, and so I like the way we run AR on my campus--comfortably and carefully; we use AR, but, we don’t obsess about it and/or are consumed by it. I give the students the computerized Star Reading Test to find their individualized, compatible reading range (ZPD); I write their ZPD's on a book mark and explain to them how finding books they want to read within their reading range and taking quizzes to find out how well they understood what they read will grow their reading. I also stress the importance of careful and through reading and sometimes re-reading if necessary, so as to make high scores (85-100%) on their reading quizzes is the vital key to accelerating their reading growth. If students consistently score high on reading quizzes whether a struggling reader who has a low reading range or a student quizzing at the low range of their respective reading range, scoring high on the reading quizzes automatically elevates and grows the reader's reading levels.

I build in an extra scaffold or bridge to cement the learning within the reading prior to testing by allowing students to use hands on's and graphic organizers, See Dinah Zike’s foldable (www.dinah.com) for great ideas. This is an additional way to integrate artsy, hands on’s manipulative which is enjoyable and motivation for students of all ages. Additional students can blog about their books read prior to taking an AR quiz; I created a blog specifically for allowing student to do so.

Renaissance Learning, the creators of the Accelerated Reading Program offers continuous learning based upon the latest research about builds a culture of reading within all students. Updated training details that concentration on solely points as passé. In having students set individual goals, educators have the option of setting goals in three ways by: (1) having reading read within an individualized reading range to grow reading by (2) maintaining reading average of 85 % and above; and (3) acquiring a set number of points based upon and individual goal of students—( points actually equates the length of time spent reading)---the more text within a book, the more time needed to read, thus equating the number of point worth of book.

At the end of the day, if implemented correctly Accelerated Reader Program builds a sense of security and safety within students because they succeed when matched with a book they can actually read. They are empowered to elevate and grow in their reading by quizzing successfully on book quizzes that offer immediate feed-back on how well they have done. Confidence, self-esteem, lifelong reader in upward mobility is a by product.

What do I mean by upward mobility? My students are about 99% poverty, and since
once upon a time, reading for pleasure as a past time leisure endeavor was reserved “only” for the elite, wealthy class--that is why, it is of critical importance to build and develop a culture of reading within the children we serve. At the end of each day, I walk out of my library with a bounce in my step for I feel that I am meeting the reading needs of my students by using a tool which grows them as readers and whets their appetite for wanting to read lots of books.