Re: Accelerated Reader was SRA kits

[Judi Hirsch <judih@OUSD.K12.CA.US>]

Now it's my turn to puke. No wonder so many people don't read! It's not tv
or computers but what WE did /do to them in school!
Judi

----- Original Message -----
From: Glenn <glenn@PEEDEEWORLD.NET>
To: <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 12:27 PM
Subject: Accelerated Reader was SRA kits


> > If you have ever discussed a book with other adults you must know that
> > there are often a variety of opinions as to what was the main idea, what
> > was the author's point or point of view, etc. The comprehension
questions
> > and answers given in these kits and guides assumes there is only one
> > correct answer. I am a very good reader but I was often crestfallen to
> find
> > that my answers were not the "right" one just as I was devastated when
on
> > multiple choice tests my answer didn't even appear as a choice.
>
>
> Well, and here's where Accelerated Reader falls flat on its face.
>
> For those of you who don't know, Accelerated Reader is a program *highly*
> popular in middle & elementary schools.  Basically it involves "grading"
> books into reading levels-- kids test using a multiple choice test on the
> computer (a glorified vocabulary test, essentially) and then get a
"reading
> level."  They must read books at that reading level.  All the books have
> little stickers that tell what level they are.
>
> After the book is read, the student goes back to the computer and takes a
> ten question (some are a few more than this) multiple choice quiz on the
> book.  There's a ten question quiz for Cat In The Hat and a ten question
> quiz for Crime & Punishment.
>
> A score of 80% is considered passing.  The student can print out results &
> have the teacher & parent sign.
>
> Different books are worth different points, and as students take tests
they
> earn points that correspond to the number of questions they got correct
and
> the difficulty of the book.  Most schools link these points to prizes,
> privileges, parties, and even grades.  Some schools require students to
earn
> a certain number of points per grading period or to take a certain number
of
> AR tests.
>
> I'm bringing this up (and writing a very long message about it! ;)  ) only
> because AR is touted as the savior for reading programs-- "kids will read
to
> earn points and the teacher doesn't have to do any of the work-- the
> computer tracks it!!!!!!!!!!"  (You really need a lot of exclamation
points
> to get the full effect of the hysteria surrounding AR.)
>
> It's kind of a 21st century SRA.  And the same troubles with comprehension
> questions & differing interpretations are there.  I've taught _Animal
Farm_
> in five different classrooms, and when I took the AR test, there was one
> question I just did not know-- two of the answers seemed plausible.  Many
of
> the questions are purely factual recall.  And of course there's the fact
> that the student at no time has to actually *talk* to anyone about what
s/he
> is reading or react to the reading or connect to it in any way.
>
> Teresa Glenn
>
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