I'm trying to avoid commenting on AR because I don't use it, though it is used at my school and some really love it. I haven't used it because my students are reading voraciously now and I don't want to disturb that.

We have finished our final full week of classes this week. On our reading roundup, I totaled the number of pages my students read. 61 students reporting had read 342,010 pages. One student in one class read 16,111 pages in 81 books this academic year. I teach in a very urban Title 1 school.

How did I get success (and I do think the page numbers are success)? I provided YA lit that I had read and loved, I book chatted like a mad woman, I required reading in class and as homework, I required 2 books to be finished each month and I allowed students to choose their books. I'm a passionate advocate of wide open choice when it comes to reading. It's based on my personal experience; when I was in high school and forced to read Hemmingway and his cronies, I fell out of the love of reading. Far out of that love. The only thing that kept me in the reading loop was Danielle Steele and Johana Lindsey. I immersed myself in the world of bad historical romances, but they saved me as a reader.

Last year, I spent an incredible amount of money on books for my classroom. And my kids loved it and benefited from it. The looked forward to Mondays because I came in with a bag of new books and talked about how excited I was. To me and my students, the money was well spent.

We debriefed in both of my classes about reading. My students said that, to a child, they had read more this year than they ever have in school before. Some of them read more this year, then they had aggregate in their life. I asked them what was different this year and they said that they liked choosing their books. Last year, when they did AR with some of their teachers, they didn't like the limited selection. They also said that they loved hearing about the books I was excited about and willing to share. I'm bursting with pride for my students and I wanted to share the success!

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Congratulations on your success! I teach in a "very urban Title I school" as well and our students come to us with an utter dislike and disinterest in reading. AR is a miserable failure at our school, even though our kids are coming from schools where AR points are part of their grades. Even the extrinsic motivators attached to AR don't work...So I am very interested in hearing about things that work! I will be trying out some of these things next year--especially keeping track of the page numbers read. One question though, for the books you required, did you give them any guidelines to follow in selecting their books? Thanks.

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My guidelines for the free choice reading component of my program were as follows: 

1. The book they read had to have more words than pictures.

2. It had to be something that they wouldn't mind reading aloud to me or to their parents (cut down on some of the stuff the parents would hate).

3. If they didn't like the book, they could abandon it. The page numbers would count towards the total pages read, but it wouldn't count as one of the two books for the month.

4. I gave points for the page numbers because I required 375 pages a month. For the first semester and then some, kids kept daily calendars of running page totals that a parent had to sign off on. Then we began to collect data in the second semester and they would graph how many pages they finished in a 30 minute block. We'd then discuss why some books were faster than others and why some parts of a given book would go faster.

My students read everything from Junie B. Jones and Captain Underpants to House of the Spirits and In the Time of Butterflies. I also assigned two books we read this year which didn't count in the free choice totals. And lit circle books which did count.

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Congratulations to you and others who are immersing students in reading material, who are excited about reading and show it on a regular basis, who bring books into the classroom and book talk them like crazy. This is how I overcome the anti-reading attitude of more than half of the eighth graders who come to me each September. Some come to me knowing that I am the crazy book lady and are excited because they are readers already. Most, though, are afraid they won't do well because they don't like reading, haven't read many books since fourth or fifth grade, and haven't enjoyed the ones they were forced through.

If someone put a book in front of me every ten weeks and said, "you must read this and fill out worksheets and take tests on it," I would hate reading, too. Instead, I collect ideas about books I might like to read from sources everywhere. So I train my students to listen to my book talks, and the librarian's book talks, and other students, and keep a list of books they might like to read. My students are semi-rural, culturally-poor, materially rich, with a surfeit of television and video games. Mine is an uphill battle, but I love to see kids faces when they look at all the books they've read and enjoyed during our nine months together. They are proud of themselves, and surprised. June is an exciting month for me and my students.

I was appalled to see that AR had found its way into all three of our elementary schools, but emails and copies of articles sent to the asst. superintendent and principals did not sway them. I was further dismayed when I found out that a computer room aide started things when she discovered AR and started talking it up to teachers at one school. Too bad her word counted more than a certified teacher.

I have my hands full with my own classroom, or I would fight it further. Cheers.

April 2003

Our school district is in its second year of full-blown Accelerated Reader hoopla, and as a librarian I am growing wearier of it by the moment. I had vented my frustrations with AR to the list before (last school year), but after doing so I reminded myself that it wasn't going to go away anytime soon and I had better learn to turn it into a learning experience. So, I decided to make the best of it—for both myself and for my students. There was a lot of tongue-biting last year as I spent dollar after dollar on AR tests (rather than those dollars on books), and listened to teacher after teacher remind his or her class to make sure they "got an AR book in their level" (not, "try to find a great mystery this week..." or "try a new series this week...", etc.)

What I have noticed this year has somewhat validated what I suspected before. The students who had been restricted to reading only within their ranges did so religiously last year (they had to; their reading grades depended in part on their success with AR). Supposedly, their success with AR was to have instilled in them the confidence to attack  "more and better", but lo and behold, I hardly EVER see the same students checking out books this year. Not "more and better", not even "any" in some cases. So I asked a few of them why I didn't see them much anymore, and they (to a one) said they were just burned out on reading. "Too much, too quickly, and not what they always wanted to read last year". Not the result AR advertises and hopes for, I'm sure. And, yes, I know AR isn't the culprit per se. It is in its fancy packaging only a tool, not meant to be a substitute for reading instruction nor a substitute for instilling a love of reading. But maybe it's just too easy to try to use it for both, anyway. In one year we saw that AR didn't stoke the fire of reading for pleasure. AR snuffed it in many cases.

I am now faced with having to address the "reading level" issue with AR. For the students who are high-level readers, at what point do we say "enough is enough?" and stop trying to force them to read material—only—at their levels? I can't in good conscience tell any more 10 and 11-year olds that they have to choose from Jane Austen and Howard Pyle just because "it's at their levels." They still want to read Caroline Cooney and Sharon Creech, Bruce Coville and John Erickson. In some previous discussion about AR, I seem to remember someone's having said their school graduated students from the AR program once they passed a certain reading level (was it 6th grade?) I'd appreciate hearing how it worked in this school, because I'd like to propose we do the same in our school. Does anyone on the list have experience with this? How do others deal with addressing the AR needs of higher-level but younger readers? (Ours are ages 10-12, reading levels—but certainly not maturity levels—up to 12th grade.) Thanks for any input.

February 2002

I am a parent of a second grader, a former public school teacher and a current college professor in a teacher education program. My daughter was introduced to AR in first grade. She always enjoyed books and was beginning to read independently. One day she came home from school and said "Mom, I am good in science and math but I will never be a good reader." Imagine my horror at hearing this statement—I literally felt all of the blood drain out of my face. I began questioning her and talked with her teacher. Come to find out she had taken an AR test and did not get enough questions correct to receive points. She did not pick up a book for three months. In fact I had to begin a literacy development program at home just to get her to feel good about reading and writing again. The program took a child that was intrinsically motivated to read and write and turned her off. We have been very concerned about this program and are trying to educate the school to research the negative effects this program has on intrinsically motivated children. She still avoids the AR tests though they try to get her motivated. I now tell her reading is not about getting points and we do not care if she takes the tests or not. I am looking for valid research studies on this program—studies not funded by the developers—they fund their own research—of course they only print what they want to print. I do believe that this program can have serious negative effects on beginner readers. It has been interesting reading some other comments related to this.

October 2000

First, how do you get reluctant readers to read? You offer them a buffet. You know how people love buffets. They like the choices. And when kids go through a buffet, adults make sure kids get a little bit of the good stuff, whatever they think that good stuff is, and they make sure the kids get some choices too. That's the way reading should be. When you give kids choices, they enjoy the act of reading more. First of all, I agree. I offer choices (sometimes from a list, but choices nonetheless) and it works. But...not everyone loves a buffet. My husband can't stand them. It's odd, but true. When it comes to a buffet of books, I've had kids become overwhelmed with too many choices, and they BEG for me to choose for them. Now, I'm not saying AR is for those who don't like the buffet...but I do want you to remember that there are anti-buffeters (anti-buffetites?) out there! 

June 1999

I agree wholly about disliking the AR program in terms of rewards and tricks. However, my first grader LOVES it. It is what grants her permission to read more, and the tests validate (both to her and her teacher) that she is doing well. She Loves to get to go to the library to take the tests on the computer, and she and a friend have scoured the Lib. for the "silver star" books in "their section" of the Lib. which fit the AR program. I must add, however, that she never reached any of the true "incentive" levels because she too often cashed in for bookmarks and erasers and did not let her points accrue. I think the Librarian may have steered her (them) that way -- "One more book and you can pick an eraser!" She will be in a different school system next year (YEAH!!) so I won't know how this implementation of AR does with older kids -- I just found out that's what she meant when she kept bringing home "silver star" books. 

June 1999

Never water down the classics. It's insulting. Once again, offer choice and voice and you'll see the same wonders without the bribes and stupid tests. If you are seeing jumps in student reading, you are seeing it because you have real books to offer students. Now try it without the bribes and the tests. I suspect you'll see the same thing, and you'll be operating on a better theoretical foundation. It's insulting?? That's a little far. Maybe for YOU it's insulting, but for a student reading at a fourth grade reading level who would never otherwise read one of the classics, it's not at all insulting, IMHO. My ESL students have a hell of a time reading the CORE lit in their basic English classes and end up failing most of the basic comprehension quizzes and tests. Then they pick up one of these AR classics and feel pride in knowing they can read a book they've heard much about and actually like it! I do agree, however, about chucking the bribes. Our school uses AR (for only a portion of their reading program) and uses no bribes and it works wonderfully. Many of the books can't stay on the shelf. That in and of itself says AR works. . . Reading for the love of reading. Period. A basic program like AR (without the bells and whistles) makes it easier for the teacher to design a reading program and gives a little structure, a basis. There's nothing wrong with that. 

June 1999

AR was already in place when I started teaching at my school five years ago. I quickly realized after many frustrating discussions regarding this program that many teachers just want something easy for them to assess - let the computer do the work! They don't want to have to read the books in order to know what the kids are reading. I have difficulty understanding why nonreaders would want to teach reading to kids in the first place, but I am constantly amazed at how few teachers actually read. It seems especially frustrating at my school because there are so few teachers - two at teach grade level, grades 1-5, and only three lang. arts teachers in middle school. I am finally able to get the support, encouragement, and the discussion I so desperately need through this list. I am thankful for it each and every day. 

May 1999

But you know what? They're bogus. They aren't real charts that indicate higher reading comprehension. 

Response:  And for the zillionth time, I concur here. The notion that multiple choice, literal recall tests have anything to do with reading comprehension, let alone critical thinking/reading skills, is a myth the company pumps out in its PR—with no scruples whatsoever. I will go a bit further—as far as I am able. The figures/ statistics/charts/claims made available to the public that are supposedly based on zones of proximal development WILL NOT HOLD UP in professional statistical analysis. The company supports its own "Center of Academic Excellence" which is controlled by what the president of the company (who has NO expertise in education but who claims to be a "noted educational theorist") thinks will help the products sell. The people who write the "quizzes" are terribly under paid ex-teachers, (and not one quarter as well trained in assessments as most item writers) in a small community in the middle of Wisconsin. The company also takes advantage of the low salaries of teachers in other countries to get these test produced as cheaply as they possibly can. Yet, this company's stocks climb at astronomical rates, year after year. It just seems to me that teachers would, on ethics and conscience alone, boycott this product. 

Response:  If schools simply spent the money on the books (and they are available through all kinds of catalogues) and disregarded the incentive programs and dorky multiple guess tests, they'd see students reading just as much or more. Perhaps some teacher's out there feel they have had success of some sort with this program, and perhaps they have done more with it than the AR people prescribe. However, my son was subjected to this program in his 8th grade language arts class this year and I felt it was nearly a total waste of time. The only reason I say nearly is because he was reading. However, he reads anyway. He told us repeatedly at the dinner table of fellow students who had figured out how to beat the system and still others who figured out they could get enough points from other aspects of the class that they could skip the dorky multiple choice quizzes with no consequences. Many of them watched movies of the books and passed the quizzes that way. There are infinite ways to get kids involved in reading—just look at all the great suggestions we see on this list. AR is a waste of time. 

May 1999

Although this topic has been covered before, I didn't get a chance to contribute to the dialogue. I agree w/ you wholeheartedly. It's true that teachers need to become more attuned to theory and how theory drives what they do. Any teacher familiar w/ reader-responses theories and who tries to design lit. classes that are driven by reader-response theories will certainly not be "taken" by the promises of AR. Nor will those teachers capitulate to pressure to utilize AR w/ their classes. The AR program flies in the face of everything that I try to do in my English classes and, luckily, so far I've been able to avoid having to use AR. Perhaps administrators and teachers who are enamored of AR need to read Louise Rosenblatt, Robert Probst, and Judith Langer (among others) to discern what the teaching of reading and lit. is really about—and what reading/the study of lit. can offer students. 

May 1999

We have discussed AR on this list several times before. What you will find is that there are strong feelings on both sides of the discussion. Here's my 2 cents worth. I suspect you will hear from others who will present the plusses they see in the program. I would point you to the BEST article ever written about this subject. It appeared in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, October 1998 (I am almost certain of this date). The author is Betty Carter and the article is called HOLD THE APPLAUSE. It details what is wrong with program of this sort. Let me see if I can give it to you succinctly. 

1. There is no reputable research which indicates that it is the AR program of and by itself which leads to any increases they may claim. The research they send out in their packets is not really about AR, it is about motivation.

2. The lists are quite restrictive. Unless you have all the disks they make, and even if you do, there are many fine titles missing. Of course, new books are slow to have test disks made. My granddaughter had to wait for the Harry Potter disk and the Newberry disk for this year's winners.

3.  AR forces kids to read books in their "zone", a misapplication of Vygotsky. That means they cannot read easy or tough books—they need to stay in a range. That range sometimes results in some interesting and appropriate books missing from a child's list of books they can read. We all know that there is a world of difference between reading levels and interest levels.

4. It is a "one size fits all" curriculum—this program is good for EVERY kid in EVERY grade according to its proponents—that is definitely NOT the case. I know of many good readers who hate it and many poor readers who hate it as well.

5. Cheating is possible (heck, face up to it—it happens a lot).

6. The tests on AR check at the lowest levels of thought—these are close ended questions with discrete answers. Basically, if you are good at remembering details, you can do well on the test. If you read for big ideas........too bad. Also, if you cannot take the test right away, chances are you will not do as well.

7. AR is now driving the library collections in many schools. That means funds are being spent for AR books and not necessarily the best new books.

8. Kids cannot re-read books for points. Since AR is being used at lower levels (kindergarten for example), this is a drawback. Re-reading is something we all do and enjoy.

9. Costs are hidden—initial set up is not so bad, but add on new disks all the time and training for teachers and you have spent a ton of $$$ better spent in bringing in authors, buying new books in multiple copies, etc.

10. Decisions about AR are coming from the top down—AR markets to administrators and then teachers are told to do it. I wrote a short piece about this for the Middle School Assembly newsletter which should be coming out soon. I urge you to do more reading. Let the flames begin—it is cool here this morning and I could stand the heat. 

IMHO the main problem with AR is that many teachers have students read books, take the test, get another book, ad infinitum without any kind of human interaction about what they read, what they felt about the book, etc. I also have found that students who are coming into high school having read "thousands" of book in elementary and junior high can "only" comprehend what they are reading. There is nothing deeper because the tests require only comprehension. There has to be a middle ground somewhere. 

January 1999

Every student in our school is required to read an Accelerated Reader book each grading period. The content standards in our state (Louisiana) have been raised in the past few years, and the graduation exit exam is become far more challenging. We know kids need to read more, and this is one way for us to require it...in addition to what we are doing in our classrooms. 

January 1999