Accelerated Reader
'Inspire a love of reading while monitoring progress and attainment.'
At Glyn School, we create a culture of reading and develop students' reading skills through the Accelerated Reader (AR) Programme. Year 7, 8 and 9 students use Accelerated Reader, a computer-based programme, to monitor their reading practice and progress. Students complete multiple-choice quizzes once they have finished reading a book and the results provide feedback on their comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. The programme promotes high-quality reading and enables students to progress as readers. Also, AR provides useful data that enables teachers to share individual reading recommendations with students, based on their interests and reading levels, to suggest challenging and appropriate books for them to read.
The AR programme at Glyn School, led by Jade Philips, Key Stage Three English Lead, is well established, growing and highly successful. This has been acknowledged by the Renaissance providers, who cite Glyn School as a particularly successful case study.
Students should read for at least 20 minutes every day. Students answer multiple-choice questions, based on their reading, which adapt in difficulty in response to their answers. Quizzes should be completed shortly after reading for result accuracy. The test must last a minimum of 20 minutes to provide a range of data. Reading age and ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) are immediately available, to identify an appropriate reading age for that student's range.
Using the ZPD obtained from their Star Reading test, students can select suitably challenging texts, which they can access, but which will challenge them, so they grow as readers. Students can select approved books from home. The process of quizzing and reading then repeats.
“Renaissance Accelerated Reader is one of the most heavily researched programmes in the world. Independent studies from the National Literacy Trust (NLT) and Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have found a positive relationship between Accelerated Reader usage, reading attainment and enjoyment of reading.” (Renaissance Learning)
We measure impact against our original intentions for the programme:
- for students to improve their standardised reading scores
- for increased enjoyment in reading together
- for continued exposure to and understanding of unfamiliar vocabulary
Please watch Miss Philips’ October 2020 Loom Presentation on Accelerated Reader
