Cultivating a Love of Reading: MES’s Accelerated Reader Program

Will our children be able to compete in an increasingly demanding economy? Most children who struggle in school have difficulties with reading, while those that achieve proficiency unlock success in many other subjects later in their school careers. To be employable in tomorrow’s technology-driven workplace, graduates will need to be skilled at reading and interpreting both printed and online information. Accelerated Reader (AR) is a scientifically based and widely studied computer-based reading assessment system that has been demonstrated to be effective at improving students’ reading achievement. The program works well at all grade levels. With a commitment of funding from the MES Diamondbacks PTO, Maricopa Elementary School plans to deploy the award-winning reading program in January 2009.

How Does AR Work?

The AR program's steps are easy and fun:

1. 1) Read a specially-marked book from the MES Library or AR Book Finder List (www.arbookfind.com), which includes over 100,000 titles.
3. 2) Take an online quiz.
5. 3) Students get immediate feedback on their reading and vocabulary progress. This information allows teachers to monitor the students’ reading activity according to their ability and guide them towards books that are at their reading level.

Parents and students can also log in from their home computers to review quiz results and track progress toward reading goals.

Teachers who have used the program are enthusiastic about the system’s effectiveness. “AR facilitates reading practice in my classroom by letting children know the various levels and types of books there are. They have learned about percentages and to read for details in the books we read. I feel this is a far cry from the kindergarten reading we did even six years ago. AR has also helped the children take tests in other areas by making them more attentive to details and following directions,” says Mary Meyer, a Kekuk, Iowa elementary school teacher.

Reluctant Readers Become Reading Fanatics

The AR program helps students to build a love of reading by developing a sense of accomplishment and pride by tracking their progress real-time. Patricia Matsen of Milford High School in Delaware says, “AR provides monitored, consistent daily practice and complete accountability through the Reading Practice Quizzes. The students love the immediate feedback, the ability to chart their progress, and earn awards. As a teacher of seniors, I see looks of accomplishment and sometimes astonishment on students’ faces as they print their complete reading history from the time they started to read using AR. It facilitates instruction, tracks progress, and motivates readers!