I teach in a school district that uses Accelerated Reading. It is wonderful! I will explain a little about how we use it within our school, and other ways it can be used.
Accelerated Reading is an excellent program that helps students raise reading levels throughout the course of one year. In this program, students should be reading for an assigned amount of time each day. Before the students begin the program, they should be tested to determine their reading levels. This program is called STAR. Each student will then be assigned a point level goal each nine weeks (or at whatever grading interval set by the school district) that he or she should be able to achieve. A book level goal should also be set according to the average of the student’s reading range.
During AR, the students will select and read books that fall within their reading level. After a student has finished reading a book, he/she will take an AR test on the computer, which will ask comprehension questions about the book. Each book has a point value. After taking a test, the students will be given points which correlate with the percentage of correct answers given on the test. For example, if a student correctly answers 80% of the comprehension questions on a book that is worth four points, the student will receive 3.2 points. Then at the end of the grading period, all points are compiled.
There are three components that can be used to determine the final AR grade for each nine weeks. This grade can be counted many different ways. The breakdown is shown below:
· Percentage of Point Goal Achieved
· Average Percentage Received on Comprehension Tests
· Percentage of Book Level Goal Achieved
This program can also simply be used as an incentive for prizes or other rewards. Within the program are several different forms and printouts to explain how to effectively use it to meet the needs of the students within a school.
AR is a great reading program! The children are allowed to read on their own level, and they get to choose books that are of interest to them. Parents should not be required to purchase these books. Students should be allowed to use the library to check out books as needed, and the library should have many of these books on hand. Parents should encourage their child to read during the scheduled AR time and in his or her free time as well.
In order to operate this program, schools must purchase tests to go along with books. These tests are then downloaded onto a computer server, or individual computers to be used within the school. Each student has a login and password for the program. This helps cut down on cheating within the program itself. Believe it or not, I have had students cheat on this program before. If each student has a different password, the only way another student can take a test under a different name is to have that specific password. It holds everyone accountable. For more information on this program, you can visit http://www.renlearn.com/ar/. Many reviews on the program have been done. You can visit http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/whatsnu_ar.html for more information on the program’s benefits. There are also other subjects offered by this same company. Visit http://www.renlearn.com/ to learn more!
