Accelerated Reader: Junk Food for the Mind?
If you were interested in the Supplementing Education post and your child is involved in Accelerated Reader, take a look at the links below.
Why Read Shakespeare When Clancy Can Get You a Pizza Party?
Reading for Points Only?
Nancy Drew Outpoints Macbeth
The articles highlight some potential shortcomings with the program.
If your child is in Accelerated Reader are you monitoring what books have actually been read or just looking at points gained?
Are you balancing "just for fun" books with some challenging classics?
Please discuss in the comments.
posted by Blogmaster at 4:28 PM
6 Comments:
The Accelerated Reader program you speak about was introduced in the Rocklin School District around 6 years ago by Sarah James, a teacher in the district. She was responsible for implementing the program. At that time (and she may still be) she was a paid consultant for Renaissance Learning. Renaissance Learning is the company that puts out the Accelerated Reader program. This is a true conflict of interest. She is also the principal at Twin Oaks Elementary School in Rocklin. Twin Oaks was rated well below average when compared with similar schools by the California Department of Education. Maybe Ms James should go back to being a consultant. She seemed to have better luck doing that than being the principal at Twin Oaks.
This is an interesting, yet inaccurate posting by Mr. Klang. The Reading Renaissance program was introduced by Robert Capp @ Rocklin Elementary School during the school year 1998-99. Ms. James did not become a consultant for Renaissance Learning until 2 years later. Since Robert Capp has never been a consultant nor paid in any way from Renaissance Learning, there is NO conflict of interest and therefore makes Mr. Klang's comments irrelevant. As to his comments regarding Ms. James at Twin Oaks, that is no surprise. Joe McCarthy used the same tactics in the fifties, and was shunned for it. Shame on you Mr. Klang.
I am surprised the Sean Jones has allowed this slander of an honorable public servant such as Ms. James continue on this blog-shame on you as well.
Rather than hearing accustions of slander, I am more interested in hearing your defense of Accelerated Reader. Do you have any comments regarding the issues raised in the blog? How can a Nancy Drew book receive more points than Shakespeare?
You would actually need to read all three articles to understand the point of the original post. As stated in one of the articles, William Shakespeare wrote for the theater of old England - not as a book to be read by elementary school children. The point of the entire article is that we as parents need to encourage our children to read the classics-and yes, most have an AR quiz for them. The reasoning for the points differential is simply degree of difficulty and length of the book (total words read) Reading is very similar to working out with weights, the more you do, the stonger you become. AR stimulates reading practice. When a school or class is following the principles and practices of Reading Renaissance, then each student is reading at their level at a 85-92% success rate on average on the comprehension quizes. More than 92% and the student is under challenged and less than 85% and the student is over challenged.
Teachers encourage students to read independently at their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) this is the basis of Dr. Abe Vigozsky's (sp.) research into child development.
Take a look at the over 100,000 comprehension quizzes that are available to each student and you will find nearly every "classic" that there is, including every Caldecott and Newberry Award winning book.
My point about Mr. Klang is that he doesn't present anything new on his post that you couldn't read in his postings on his idealogue based blog. This is not an issue about AR to him, it is just another way in which he can attack the students and staff at a Rocklin public school.
bob capp
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Maybe I don't have too much credibility as a poorly performing student, specifically in English. Your call. However, as a Rocklin High Senior I've been pressed with the lousy(read: keyword here people) AR program numerous times as a student in the district. For awhile it faded out of existence(8th grade) and we all celebrated. Then it came back(10th grade) with blood thirsty revenge as some teachers even choose to make an "essential skill" of the AR point goal. I think it's actually responsible for my current dislike of reading since I'm not really a proactive reader. I think pretty much all reading should just go back to being integrated into the class itself. Ok, something extra to encourage reading on the side would be nice too I guess, but to punish us for not reading isn't exactly motivating.
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