Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a daily progress monitoring software assessment in wide use by primary and secondary schools for monitoring the practice of reading, and it is created by Renaissance Learning, Inc. Currently, there are two versions: a desktop version and a web-based version in Renaissance Place, the company's web software for Accelerated Reader and a number of other software products (e.g. Accelerated Math).

Purpose
Accelerated Reader is an assessment that primarily determines whether or not a child has read a book. The software provides additional information to teachers regarding reading rates, amount of reading, and other variables related to reading. Renaissance Learning does not require or advocate the use of incentives with the assessment, although it is a common misperception.

Additionally, a number of other assessments are available to assess higher order thinking skills and vocabulary. Quizzes can be taken on fiction and non-fiction books, textbooks, supplemental material, and educational magazines. As of 2006, there are more than 100,000 books in the Accelerated Reader database.

There are three steps to using Accelerated Reader. First, students choose and read a fiction or non-fiction book, textbook, or magazine. Teachers monitor reading including guided, paired, literature-based, and textbook reading. Second, students take a quiz. Teachers can create their own quizzes for those not available in Accelerated Reader. Third, the teacher receives information that is intended to assist, motivate reading, monitor progress, and target instruction. Reports regarding reading level and comprehension skills are available through the software.

ATOS
ATOS, similar to Lexile, is a readability formula that results in a readability level for books. The purpose of ATOS is to assist with guiding students to books suited to their reading abilities. Renaissance Learning reports that "ATOS is the first formula to include statistics from actual student book-reading (more than 30,000 students, reading almost 1,000,000 books), not just data based on short test passages." Books with quizzes in Accelerated Reader are analyzed during the quiz creation process and assigned an ATOS readability level.

Specifically, ATOS Readability Formula for Books are the readability formula dat provides reading levels based on the entire contents of books. ATOS for Books with Estimated Word Count is a variation of the original formula that does not require the entire text of a book (it requires at least 3 samples of 150 words and an estimate of the entire books word count). ATOS for Text is a formula for short stories, magazine and newspaper articles, test items, and other materials. The ATOS Analyzer is software that "provides an ATOS reading level for text submitted for analysis."

Quizzes
Reading Practice quizzes assess whether or not students have read a book. To use this assessment, students first read an Accelerated Reader book (a book that has a related quiz in the Accelerated Reader database). Teachers monitor student reading, and once the child has finished the book, he or she takes a quiz on Accelerated Reader via computer. The quizzes are multiple choice with 5, 10, and 20 questions depending on the book's difficulty and length. The questions ask literal comprehension questions. Students must correctly answer a set number of questions in order to pass an exam, for which they are given a percentage of points associated with the book depending on their achievement on the quiz. Literacy Skills quizzes assess 24 "higher order" thinking skills using material from specific books. These skills are somewhat tied to skills assessed on standardized, high-stakes tests.

Quizzes are also available on textbooks, supplemental materials, and magazines. Most are in the form of reading practice quizzes, although some are curriculum-based with multiple subjects. Magazine quizzes are available for old magazines as well as on a subscription basis for new magazines. The subscription quizzes include three of the Time for Kids series magazines, Cobblestone, and Kids Discover.

As of Accelerated Reader version 6.x, many of the company's quizzes are available in an optional recorded voice format for primary-level books, in which the quiz questions and answers are read to the student taking the quiz. These quizzes are designed to help emerging English readers take the quizzes without additional assistance.

In addition to regular reading quizzes, the Renaissance Place version of Accelerated Reader includes quizzes designed to practice vocabulary. The quizzes use words from books, and should be taken after the book has been read. Bookmarks can be printed out that display the vocabulary words so that, as students read, they can refer to the bookmark for help. The quizzes keep track of words learned, and reviews are suggested every so often.

Reports
Accelerated Reader reports are generated on demand and help students, teachers, and parents monitor student progress. More than 30 reports are available regarding student reading, comprehension, amount of reading, diagnostic information, and other variables. Customizable reports are available in the Renaissance Place edition and can report district-level information.

The TOPS Report (The Opportunity to Praise Students) reports quiz results after each quiz is taken. This allows students to immediately review specific concepts with which they had difficulty, and to alert teachers to anyone having difficulty. Diagnostic Reports identify students in need of intervention based on various factors. The Student Record Report is a complete record of the books the student has read, including quiz scores. The Literacy Skills Chart is intended to help teachers assess proficienty on 24 higher-order reading skills.

Research
A number of studies have been conducted regarding the effectiveness of using Accelerated Reader in the classroom. The company's webpage includes a searchable list of research articles. The ERIC educational database also includes numerous research articles on Accelerated Reader. Links to both are at the end of this article. Below is a sample of some of the current research (within the last four years) available on Accelerated Reader. The following two studies were reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse and were found to meet their high standards for research.

Ross, Nunnery, and Goldfeder (2004) studied 1,665 students and 76 teachers (grades K-6) from 11 schools in Memphis, Tennessee. Many of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Teachers were randomly assigned to use Accelerated Reader or to continue regular curriculum without the software. Students in classrooms with Accelerated Reader demonstrated gains. Additionally, many of the teachers responded positively to the software and highly supported the software. Many also indicated that they would continue to use the software.

In another study, Nunnery, Ross, and McDonald (2006) used hierarchical linear modeling to assess the reading achievement of students in grades 3-6. This model incorporated the effects of individual, classroom, and school variables that impact reading achievement. Regardless, those in Accelerated Reader classrooms still outperformed students in control classrooms. Furthermore, students with learning disabilities in high implementation classrooms did not suffer from their disabilities as much as similar students in low or no implementation classrooms.

In a controlled evaluation, Holmes and Brown (2003) found that two schools using the School Renaissance program achieved significantly higher standardized test scores when compared with two contrast schools that were using the Renaissance program in a very limited way. Because so many schools in the United States are using Accelerated Reader, it was difficult for the authors of this study to find two schools in Georgia that were not already using Accelerated Reader. The authors noted:


 * "In all nine comparisons involving standardized test scores in reading, language arts, and mathematics, the Renaissance schools' children outperformed the contrast school's children. It can only be concluded that the Renaissance program was highly effective in raising the performance of these elementary students." (Holmes & Brown, 2003)

Samuels and Wu have completed a number of studies on Accelerated Reader with positive results. In 2003, they found that, after six months, third- and fifth-grade students that used Accelerated Reader demonstrated twice the gain in reading comprehension as those that did not use Accelerated Reader. The comparison students completed book reports, relaying that delayed feedback through book reports is not as useful as the immediate feedback provided by Accelerated Reader. In another study, Samuels and Wu (2004) found students in Accelerated Reader classrooms, after controlling for the amount of time spent reading each day, outperformed students in control classrooms.

Researcher Keith Topping has completed a number of scientific studies on Accelerated Reader that have found the software to be an effective assessment to inform curriculum.

Reviews
The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring has reviewed Accelerated Reader, and found that is meets 6 out of 7 of its progress monitoring criteria. Accelerated Reader has also been reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse and the Florida Center for Reading Research.

Additionally, the Education Commission of the States has reviewed the software. In October 2006, Accelerated Reader was voted as one of the best reading software for building students' vocabulary and reading comprehension by readers of eSchool News. Accelerated Reader has appeared on previous eSchool News surveys as well.

In some cases Renaissance Learning provides funding for research studies about the efficacy of the Accelerated Reader software system. This is a common practice in most industries, including the educational technology industry, since there are significant costs and generally no monetary rewards connected with independent academic research.

Criticism
Educators have argued that the use of Accelerated Reader does not teach reading for comprehension, it only teaches reading for recall. (Literacy Skills quizzes in Accelerated Reader do attempt to assess higher order thinking skills. ) The Florida Center for Reading Research, citing two studies that support the product (provided it has been implemented correctly), noted both the lack of available books in a school's library and the lack of assessment of "inferential or critical thinking skills" as weaknesses of the software. Nonetheless, their guide also noted a number of strengths of the software, including its ability to motivate students and provide immediate results on students' reading habits and progress.

Renaissance Learning, the product's developer, has stated that its intended purpose is to assess whether or not a student has read a book, not to assess higher order thinking skills, to teach or otherwise replace curriculum, to supersede the role of the teacher, or to provide extrinsic reward. (The Literacy Skills quizzes do attempt to assess higher-order thinking skills. See above.) Nonetheless, educator and reading advocate Jim Trelease describes Accelerated Reader, along with Scholastic's Reading Counts!, as "reading incentive software" in an article exploring the pros and cons of the two software packages. Similarly, Stephen D. Krashen, in a 2003 literature review, asserts that reading incentives is one of the aspects of Accelerated Reader. In this review, Krashen reiterates prior research stating that reading for incentives does not create long-term readers. However, as noted above, Renaissance Learning does not promote the use of incentives, and the software can be used without incentives.

Cheating
Some schools include the TOPS report such as a portion of student's grade. In order to take Accelerated Reader tests without reading a book, some students may use sites such as Sparknotes. Occasionally websites have also been created to offer the answers to Accelerated Reader tests, such as http://ar-answers.com, and a wiki page in a little used wiki site based in Poland http://archeat.wikidot.com.

Renaissance Learning has filed lawsuits against these websites and successfully closed them down after a short time. The domain ar-answers.com is now owned by Renaissance, the status of http://archeat.wikidot.com is that is has been deleted by terms of service.