Accelerated Reader Program

[kentuckymom]

So, overall, I think Squirrelboy's school is really good, but I was a bit disheartened today when I read through a letter about some of the new technology they'll be introducing, since it includes the accelerated reader program. In case you don't know, my understanding is that this program involves students reading particular books and then taking a quiz about them on the computer. It's supposed to promote more reading time, thus making students better readers.

 

However..... every single parent I've talked to whose kids go to a school that uses AR hates the program with the burning passion of a thousand suns. If a kid loves to read, he's annoyed by it because he's forced to read certain books within a certain lexile level that he might or might not be interested in. If a kid is a capable but reluctant reader, he hates that he's being forced to read certain things and becomes even more reluctant to read in his spare time. If a kid has a reading disability (as mine does) he's incredibly stressed out by having to read a certain number of books and remember a certain number of details about them. I just hope the school doesn't set up one standard AR point goal for every grade, because that will be a nightmare for my kid. It's a magnet school for "individually prescribed education," which essentially means they're really, really good at differentiated instruction, so I'm hoping they follow that trend for AR as well.

 

Do any of your kids' schools use this program? Does it have any redeeming qualities?

[Roadrunner]

Yes, we had experience with it last year. The redeeming quality is supposedly everybody is reading at their own level. My biggest problem with it was that since every kid read a different book, there was no discussion in the classroom at all, Socratic or otherwise, of a single book they read thought the entire year. Personally I would have preferred something like Jr. Great Books program that's heavy with discussion.

[SKL]

My kids' school uses the AR program, and I would say that so far (my kids are just going into 2nd) it has been more positive than negative.  They assess the kids periodically and recommend a broad range of reading levels (example, 0.9 to 1.9) within which the kids are encouraged to choose books from the school library.  The library has an abundant selection of books, and the kids can use outside books, as long as they are in the AR system (which you can look up online).  So far my kids have not been given a hard time if they pick a book outside of the recommended difficulty range.

 

I find that the system does encourage my slower kid to read more than she probably would otherwise.  She enjoys the books; I think having to read "some book" every day has led her to enjoy reading more, because she's experimented with many types of books she would not otherwise have tried.

 

Most books my kids have read in the past year have been in the AR system.  This includes non-fiction books that I use to supplement subjects like science, social studies, and math.  So for example, when they were studying weather and climate in science, I had Miss A read several Rookie Read-About Science books to solidify science concepts, and she was able to use them for AR as well (even though they were above her recommended AR level).

 

Miss E, who is an advanced reader, is a book junkie and is happy for any excuse to read another book.  Reading princess and fairy books ended up being her main social activity, as there is another girl just like her in her class.  :)

 

On the negative side, there are some good books (especially out-of-print ones) that are not in the AR system.  I also hated that they sometimes expected my kids to use those horrible leveled books that the textbook companies produce.  Cringe!  And the quizzes were unpredictable, especially for the easiest books.  I mean, how do you test comprehension of a word book or a Dr. Seuss nonsense book?  For this reason I strongly encouraged my kids to go for more challenging books with an actual storyline, and for Miss A to read each book at least twice.  I can't really think of any other issues, though it could be that they have faded from my memory.  ;)

[Dmmetler]

My DD became a points junkie, burning through stacks of Magic Tree House and fairy books to get points. She was one of only 2 K kids doing AR. We were lucky in that the librarian made the call to NOT limit DD to her Lexile level, because DD's reading scores put her at a level that the elementary school library didn't have many Books and those they had weren't age-appropriate for a 4-5 year old. What I didn't like was that she ended up reading a lot of pretty poor quality literature, because the more classic books we had at home didn't have tests in the school's database. I actually wrote tests for some of the Lang Fairy book stories for DD, because, darn it, if they could have Proper Noun the Adjective Fairy in 50 zillion incarnations, they could have the Blue Fairy Book!

[lamppost]

Just a little funny about AR- the quizzes are pure recall, sometimes of very trivial details. I used to follow the blog of an author I like and she posted once that she took the quiz for one of the books she'd written and only got 8 out of 10.  :huh:

[Innisfree]

My experience, unfortunately, was like the OP describes.  Our school actually forced the kids to read and obtain perfect scores on 10 books at each level (3.6, 3.7...) before they could advance to the next level.  Since they had to come from the school library, and the library's assortment was not great, and they could not check out any other library books, my older daughter (who is a fantastic reader) soon hated library time.  This seems like a small part of a school experience, but it became a major reason we finally pulled her out. Her time was being wasted on idiotic books.

 

On a more positive note, this policy was limited to our own elementary school.  Teachers in other schools in our county have told me this particular librarian was misusing the system, and elsewhere it is handled much better.

[Innisfree]

Thinking about this more, I'd just add that if it seems to cause a problem for your son, go through whatever channels you need to and find someone who understands the problem and can fix it.  We could have been much more forceful than we were, and in retrospect I wish we had been.

[regentrude]

My children's school used accelerated reader, and we were very happy about it.

This program was the only tool for an effective differentiation in the classroom. The students were tested for their reading level and were assigned a personalized goal appropriate for their individual reading level and ability. Strong readers were allowed to read more challenging books and got a goal set higher, while struggling readers were assigned a lower point goal and books of a lower level. This allowed an effective customization of free reading without demanding time consuming plans from the teacher and allowed each student the sense of accomplishment of working towards, and achieving, an attainable goal.

For my children, AR was the saving grace that kept them sane throughout the years they spent in school; they would have been bored out of their mind without this program.

 

ETA: Just to clarify: the kids,and I disliked the computerized testing - it is a ridiculous comprehension test. But we liked the built-in time during the school day/homework for reading at an appropriate level as opposed to being assigned only grade level reading.

[regentrude]

 My biggest problem with it was that since every kid read a different book, there was no discussion in the classroom at all, Socratic or otherwise, of a single book they read thought the entire year. Personally I would have preferred something like Jr. Great Books program that's heavy with discussion.

 

In theory, I agree with you. In practice though, this common discussion book would have to be a book all students could read and thus geared towards the lowest possible reading level represented in the class. Which would mean that there would be very little educational value for the students at, and above, average reading ability - especially in the elementary grades when you deal with the spread between students reading thick classics and those still struggling with decoding beginner chapter books.

[SKL]

Thinking about this more, I'd just add that if it seems to cause a problem for your son, go through whatever channels you need to and find someone who understands the problem and can fix it. 

 

I agree with this.  At the beginning of 1st grade, Miss E (advanced reader) was bringing home KG level books.  I brought it up with the teacher and was told that they don't test the kids until they report that they are reading independently, and my daughter was saying she read the books "with" someone.  (Not sure why.)  I said she was completely independent and they agreed to test her and encourage her to choose from a broader range of books in the library.  A few months later she was still bringing home stuff that was too easy for her, saying that she was not allowed to look at the shelves for kids above 2nd grade.  I told her to advocate for herself and she got the librarian to allow her access to books up to 4th grade.  At least then she had a good variety of books to choose from.

[Erin]

AR is completely up to the individual school, how they use it.  

 

There is a test that does indeed assign a reading level, but the child doesn't have to read at that level unless the teacher requires it.   My kids' school basically allows the student to read one level below and as high as they want, or, for kids who are reading well above their age level, they allow any book they wish as it's so challenging to find age-appropriate and reading levels meeting up in the same book.

 

AR is secondary to the classroom.  Most teachers have always had some kind of free reading or DEAR time in their classroom.  AR is just a tag-along to that in most schools I've seen.  They will still read classroom-assigned books and have discussions, etc related to them.  But, they can also take an AR test on that book.

 

There are no assigned books.  AR is for the child's free-choice books.  There are no required books to read unless, again, this is part of how the individual teacher runs his classroom  But, for kids like my DS that wouldn't ever freely choose a book, it is a needed push.

 

The quizzes are indeed based on pure trivia out of the books, but it's usually pretty obvious stuff.  Consequently, the schools I've known only require the passing score...usually a 60%.  

 

The points are determined by the student, the teacher, or a combination of the two.  In our district, kids are setting their own goals by the 4th grade or so, so long as they hit a basic minimum.

 

Almost any book your kids might want to read will have an AR test available.  It doesn't have to be from a specific library or have the level/points written in the book before hand.

 

It's a fun competition for kids who might not otherwise be very competitive.  My daughter was the top 5th grade reader last year with about 210 points.  She didn't really start reading though til Christmas, so she's going for 400 this year.  A bookworm, introverted 7th grader set the record a few years ago with 1000 points in a single year. 

 

For the most part, I like the program.  My only real complaint has been that because they're not supposed to read the same books twice they are discouraged from reading a favorite book multiple times.  Who wants to waste time on a book that won't count?  I need some points!  Though again, this can be determined by the individual school.  That is a setting that can be easily changed.

[SKL]

I also agree that in some schools (our 1st grade for example), AR is the only differentiation for kids who are advanced.  Thus it is very valuable for those kids, at least.

[kentuckymom]

Thanks for all the stories of your experiences, both positive and negative. They've encouraged me to reserve judgment until I've actually seen how the program works at our school. We're only three days into the new school year, after all. DS is dyslexic and reads slightly below grade level (after A LOT of work). Right now, he's reached the point where he CAN read some of types of books he likes (Magic Treehouse, for example), but he doesn't want to because it's hard work. If this program works the way it's supposed to, it might actually help him. We'll see.

 

FYI, though Squirrelboy's school is a magnet, it's actually quite diverse both ethnically and socioeconomically. It's the only magnet school in our county that has students coming in both through a lottery system and an assigned district. We live within walking distance of the school. Our street and the streets immediately near it are solidly  middle to upper middle class. Most families own their homes, though there are a few rentals. The population on these streets is mostly white, with a sprinkling of African American families Just a few streets away are smaller homes with lower middle class and working class families. There are more rentals, and more African American and Latino families. On the other side of the school there's another working class neighborhood that's almost 100% African American. Next door to that there's a series of apartment complexes whose populations are about 90% Latino. Then there are the magnet kids. Most of these kids are white. The only Asian kids I've personally met are adopted kids with white upper middle class parents. These kids come from the south side of town, which is home to many a subdivision made up of upper middle class white people with kids. The schools always score high on the state tests and there are lines out the door on the first day of kindergarten registration because most people really want to make sure they get into their neighborhood school. Some of those parents, however, fall in love with the differentiation model and some other unique things about our school so they drive their kids across town to go to school in the less desirable neighborhood. I don't know the makeup of the school offhand, but I would guess that it's about 60% white, 30% African American, and 10% other. DH and I have lamented that, if we ever move, we'll never find a school that's both so academically excellent and so ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.

[go_go_gadget]

I imagine it *can* be used well, but I've rarely heard of that happening. I gave my children's cousin a set of novels that she would have loved, but because they weren't on her school's AR list (schools have, or had at that time, to pay to update the lists, so because these were relatively new (past 15 years), they weren't on the school's list), she wouldn't read them, because she was, as dmmetler put it, a points junkie. I also handled all the PO's in a local bookstore, and had teachers drop off a PO and tell me to choose whatever I liked within their grade level. The only books in their classrooms were those at their own grade levels, so no chance of differentiation. They also hadn't updated their AR list in ages; the most recent book on it was A Wrinkle in Time. This was 2003, and those were some of the highest-rated public schools in CA. I don't know if that's still a problem, however.

[City Mouse]

For a reluctant reader there are still lots of options of books that have AR tests. My DS also has a reading LD, but he is occasionally more willing to read graphic novels of which there are many in AR. Now, his school did not have any for the kids to read, but I was able to use the AR Bookfinder website to find graphic novels in his range and order from Amazon.

[2squared]

Maybe this isn't common, but our local public library had most books labeled by AR level, so it was easy for kids to choose books from that library too.

 

My kids tried picking their own books from the school library, and they both agreed the school had horrible selection.  Except when my son discovered the science section.  After they grew tired of junk books, they asked me to pick their books for them.  So I did.  I went to my trusty homeschooling reading lists and requested the books from the public library.  The books don't have to come from the school library, and they don't have to physically read the books themselves.  My kids test on books I read aloud and audio books. 

[Arcadia]

Saw this report today posted by the AR company

"What Kids Are Reading

The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools " 2013 edition in pdf

The common core listing starts on page 58

[Roadrunner]

Saw this report today posted by the AR company

"What Kids Are Reading

The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools " 2013 edition in pdf

The common core listing starts on page 58

Diary of a Wimpy Kid over and over and over and over again in elementary and middle school. What is the fascination?

I must say CC list looks better.

[Word Nerd]

I don't like AR, and that opinion has only grown stronger over the past few years since I first learned about it. There are a lot of good books that do have AR tests available, but we still come across reading that doesn't "count" that's still beneficial and enjoyable. Both DDs (older one when she was in grade school) have had the impression that if they can't earn points for reading something, it's useless. That's the takeaway, unfortunately.