Accelerated Reading is something I don't personally like as a teacher, but I get the intention of it. I saw kids gaming the system to get the points, though people at school swear it can't happen because the teacher and librarian both monitor every child and their choices.
My child wanted to read harder books and that will cost you on time, points, and scores. Plus, her beloved Scooby did not have AR tests, but they are Scholastic so I suspect they might need to buy some more AR tests or something. She missed her initial target date, but has caught up. We learned to read a bunch of short books at home, take them to school and sign up for the computer first, then spend reading time taking AR tests. We gamed the system. Some of her friends are reading the chapter books and already realized they are not going to make the next goal. At home, we read whatever we want and visit the library weekly to see their special encyclopedias and popup books.
In my daughter's K class(private school), the teacher arbitrarily decided to give 1/3 of the kids an AR trophy. I was furious. She said the other kids read nightly. We read nightly as did many other families. She didn't properly check the reading folders or something. No end of year gift for her. :0) Seriously.
In first grade, the teacher wanted everyone to win so we did group tests and she manually entered the grade. Only her class had every child present and it gave the kids a false sense of achieving something. It did not prepare them for second grade AR.
In second grade, the teacher told them it was totally up to them. She never reminded kids, so my child had straight A's, but didn't hit the AR target so she missed the award party that was not a party. She missed it by 1.5 points. I told her it didn't matter(big mistake) because it was not even a grade and she hated waiting in line, having to watch for an opening on computer. Plus when she read scientific books for 4th graders, she flunked the AR test and didn't get the points. Yes, she should look for the colored dot, but they told them to pick one book they like no matter the dot.
I help with AR and it depends on the school. It gets kids to read that normally don't read. The kids at my school don't get a "grade" officially but they do get a reward for reaching their goal. My daughter is in 4th grade and reads at a 6.0+ level. She is allowed to read that high. I can see the good in it...but it all depends on the school and the teacher. :)
I like it because it forces my daughter who is very smart but likes to read books that are below her reading level, to read books at her level. She's 3rd grade with a 5th grade reading level.
She can't get away with just reading picture books like she likes to , she has to read chapter books. chapter books are also generally worth more points.
I think it's great if it's organized and clearly explained to the students and parents.
I may be the dissenting opinion but I hate those tests.
My kids have been early readers. If they test in a certain reading group then they have been told they cannot go outside that range to read other books. No going above, nor below.
I find if a child is reading at or below level then by all means have some incentive so they read more. If they already read 6 grade levels above their peers then leave them and me alone.
I was a high school English teacher when AR first hit the schools -at least in Georgia. This was in the mid-late 90s and it was great in the beginning! I haven't dealt with it since 1998, so I will be interested to see what they've done with it here when my oldest starts kindergarten next year. When I was teaching, we were given very strict guidelines about how we could use AR, and using it as a grade was not okay unless you swapped out one or two quiz-type grades for AR grades every semester. This was school policy, and teachers really didn't have a lot of lee-way in doing anything extra with AR.
From this post and another one yesterday, it sounds like different schools and different school systems -and teachers -are using it in a variety of ways. I think it should strictly be extra credit if used in grading or to replace one quiz grade during a semester. Any parties, prizes,etc. should only be administered in a completely unbiased way -basically, kids read and take the computerized tests and receive their prize from the librarian or administration in that manner. If it's a "class party" thing, then the class with the most total points wins -period. No teachers need to be manually entering anything or handing out trophies.
I like the program and I think it's a great way to get non-readers to pick up a book (since many kids are never going to be encouraged to do so at home), but this situation at your child's school sounds disorganized and out of control!
Sounds like a ridiculous system that doesn't account for differences in reading level (especially on the high end). My son's school doesn't use it. They have SHARE (students homes are reading environments). No point systems, no penalties for reading harder books. The students have a SHARE journal at home each night. They are supposed to read for 20 minutes minimum and then write a 2 sentence response to what they read. The teacher checks the journal everyday and if they do a new entry each night, they earn a free book at the end of each quarter.
During the school day they have packets of "just right books" that they read. The books are based on the reading level of the child as determined by standardized testing and teacher evaluation throughout the year. The books are changed every few weeks I believe. Students select their own books and are allowed to pick some that are higher but the main quantity should be at their reading level. The teacher has been setting independent reading goals with the class to help them develop endurance.
