At its heart, Accelerated Reader is simple.
A student reads a book, takes an online quiz, and gets immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to make progress with their reading skills.
Valuable data
AR gives teachers the information they need to monitor students’ reading practice and make informed decisions to guide their future learning.
A comprehensive set of reports reveals how much a student has been reading, at what level of complexity, and how well they have understood what they have read. Vocabulary growth and literacy skills are also measured, giving teachers insight into how well students have responded to reading schemes and class instruction.
Reading Dashboard
The interactive Reading Dashboard allows educators to see how well students are performing at class, group and individual level. It brings together data from the Accelerated Reader and the Star Reading assessment to allow teachers to diagnose problems and inform intervention programmes.
Significant improvement
AR produces “particularly positive effects” according to an independent study by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and Durham University.
“The internet-based programme increased the reading age of pupils by three additional months in just 22 weeks. The effect on low-income pupils was even greater, with their reading age improving by five additional months in the same amount of time.”
Motivational quizzes
Because students receive regular feedback from AR, teachers and librarians are given many opportunities to praise students for their successes and to discuss with them what they have been reading.
Take a sample quiz
There are four different types of Accelerated Reader quiz: Reading Practice, Recorded Voice, Vocabulary Practice, and Literacy Skills.
Appropriate challenge
Pupils develop reading skills most effectively when they read appropriately challenging books – difficult enough to keep them engaged but not so difficult that they become frustrated. This is their ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD)
Text complexity is determined by the ATOS formula, which uses the text of an entire books to inform the calculation rather than just a sample as with some other formulae. As pupils are retested, their ZPD ranges increase and broaden so they continue to read suitably challenging literature.
As an alternative to the ATOS formula, Lexile® measures are also available for books with AR quizzes.
Extensive choice
AR gives students significantly greater choice in levelled books and quizzes than any comparable reading programme.
Over 37,000 reading practice quizzes are available on books from over 300 publishers and imprints. Independent of any publishing interests and suitable for students of primary and secondary age, AR ensures that there are plenty of books to interest every reader available on the programme.
AR BookFinder
The dedicated online book-searching tool AR BookFinder is publicly available to students, parents, teachers and librarians so they can identify appropriate books that are also of interest.
Best practices
Research-based recommendations underpin the best practices for AR implementation.
The importance of daily personalised reading practice cannot be overstated. Recent studies indicate that when students spend 25 minutes a day reading suitably challenging books which they successfully comprehend (demonstrated by achieving 90% or more on the reading practice quiz), then they will achieve optimal reading age growth. This is the power of personalised practice.
Implementation and professional services
A comprehensive programme of remote and on-site training accompanies the implementation of Accelerated Reader, with additional professional development packages available on request.
Positive attitudes
The National Literacy Trust’s second independent research report into the reading habits of students using Accelerated Reader was published earlier this year.
“Children and young people who use AR tend to enjoy reading more, do it more often and think more positively about reading than their peers who do not use AR. They are also more likely to see a link between reading and their successes.”
Dr Christina Clark, National Literacy Trust
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Book a free online demonstration of Accelerated Reader
Please use the form below to arrange an online demonstration of Accelerated Reader from a member of our team.
You will be introduced to the key features of Accelerated Reader, see how it works, and have the opportunity to discuss any questions you may have about the product. The demo will last approximately 30 minutes.
Find out more
Please use the form below to request more information, a personalised online demonstration or a quotation on any of our assessment and practice solutions from a member of our team.