My district gets AR!!
Aug 22nd, 2007 by Cathy Nelson
Now to the uninformed, this may sound like I am ecstatic to know that the district is getting or has Accelerated Reader. WRONG!! I sat through a meeting today, and my employer has put a moratorium on buying quizzes for books (accept the SC Award Nominees.) It seems they are seeing the program for what it is–a business that is in it to make money and not really help students. (That’s my take on it anyway.) Actually the visionaries see that the program upgrades are calling for speed and memory, and the payoff back to student learning is just not there. So it is being looked at closely, and we are not to purchase any more quizzes except for the nominees if we choose. I choose NOT to purchase anything form Accelerated Reader. Free at last from AR!! I knew there were other reasons to come to this district!!
My school has been using AR for the past four years with great success. We offer incentives for students who reach certain goals and, overall, it’s been a very motivating program for the students.
We also have a staff that’s very supportive of the program and write their own quizzes instead of purchasing them.
Just another take on AR.
While I am sure there are many schools and teachers who use the program effectively, in my experience I have seen much more misuse and lack of understanding for effectively using this tool. I have seen parents go overboard with it, and I have seen both of my own two sons turn off to reading “AR” books b/c of the stigma attached to it–though both were avid readers growing up. For these reasons I am glad my new district is re-evaluating the financial cost and impact on student learning. I am pleased to know that there are schools who use it effectively. But in my experience, I have seen more abuse than effective use. Thanks for reading and commenting!