Accelerated Reader in Schools – Does it Help or Hurt?

Accelerated Reader (AR) programs are used in many schools to assess how well children can read. It seems to have a place in ancient reading together with book traditions and observation in many schools. The accelerated reading room claims that one of the benefits of teachers is that they no longer have the time it takes for a graded book to deliver. Apparently, the development of writing skills, showing a true understanding of the reading material is no longer important; It is better for the children to log in the computer multiple choice quiz and allow the teacher to look at the results later, and enter the computer grade in his grade book. The Accelerated Reader is not designed to make the child understand what he has read; it simply determines whether the child can read the book or remember the events. While the Accelerated Reader website does not recommend or even mention the use of rewards or incentives with their program, many kids offer various schools. rewards for participating in the program and passing tests.

Children participating in the Accelerated Reader program take a quiz to determine their appropriate reading level. Children Children are then expected to read books within the scope, and take quizzes on those books. They get some points based on the difficulty of the book and how well they did on the quiz. In many schools, kids are discouraged from reading books that are not “A.R. books”: there is no Accelerated Reader test book and Accelerated Reader has not assigned a book to a reading level, so Children can’t read it. Children are also discouraged or prevented from reading the books listed above for their reading level. Rather than wanting to be able to play with a book, kids are forced to limit themselves to a narrow selection of books that the computer can read, he said. Rather than being able to choose interesting books from the school library, kids are told what to read on their own time. When my daughter was in third grade, she wanted to watch one of Harry Potter. Books from the school library. She came home very upset because the teacher and the librarian both told her they couldn’t take her down because she was above her grade. I just threatened to keep Jess from participating in AR at all. For the record, he read the book and aced the test.

Many schools offer incentives to pass out a piece of candy for each child who passes the quiz, and create competitions within each school and school wide to see who can earn the most points. This usually means that children a who are naturally gifted readers reap the most benefits, and those who struggle are more likely to fail. and farther back. It is not uncommon to see a bulletin board in a school lobby or hallway, with pictures of the top designer at each level. Some schools offer a special field trip at the end of the year for the top few scholarship points. ultrices A A gifted reader can read and prove himself in just a few books and “earn” a special trip, leaving his struggling classmate behind. , although I have experienced more and spent much more time reading than the gifted child.

Parents can get on board with the Mania Accelerated Reader. When my children were in school, the kids who read the most books (that is, A.R. books) in school were recognized at end-of-year awards ceremonies. When one boy came in third place, his mother reprimanded him for not winning publicly. He was only in fourth grade and had read more books than all but two people in the entire k-5 school. Rather than being proud of his accomplishments, the boy was crying and embarrassed in front of the whole school.

Without the ridiculous rewards, Accelerated Reader could be a good supplement to traditional things like handouts and reading groups, but unfortunately too many schools are taking advantage of it. Looking for interesting books and talking to children about what they read is still the best way to make a child a happy reader.

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