30-60 mins
Struggling readers, English Language Learners
Accelerated Reader is a reading management software program that supports individualized reading practices for students in grades K to 12. This program uses four types of quizzes (reading practice, vocabulary practice, literacy skills, textbook quizzes) to assess students’ daily progress, measuring the quality, quantity, and level of difficulty they are reading using the Advantage TASA Open Standard, a readability formula that provides reading levels based on the entire contents of books. This program does not teach reading strategies as much as it is a tool for holding students accountable for the time they spend reading text.
The program has four types of quizzes (reading practice, vocabulary practice, literacy skills and textbook quizzes) that can be used to assess students’ daily progress. These quizzes measure how much students read (“quantity”), how well they read (“quality”) and the level of difficulty they are reading. The program does not teach reading strategies as much as it is a tool for holding students accountable for the time they spend reading text.
In this program, a child chooses one of the 145,000 age-appropriate titles (including 64,000 nonfiction titles) in the Accelerated Reader Book Finder list. After the child finishes reading the book, he or she may take one or more corresponding computer-based quizzes. There is no limit to the number of quizzes a student may take each day.
Whole-class scores are tracked via the Renaissance Place Dashboard; teachers also have access to reports showing class and individual progress. Parents can keep track of their child's progress (percentage correct, books read, points earned, interest level, etc.) via free Renaissance Home Connect reports. Both Book Finder and Home Connect have a Spanish interface.
Bullock, J. C. (2005). Effects of the Accelerated Reader on the reading performance of third, fourth, and fifth-grade students in one western Oregon elementary school (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon). Dissertation Abstracts International, 66(07A), 56–2529.
Nunnery, J. A., & Ross, S. M. (2007). The effects of the School Renaissance program on student achievement in reading and mathematics. Research in the Schools, 14(1), 40–59.