Re: Accelerated Reader was SRA kits

[Deborah Meier <dmeier@ESSENTIALSCHOOLS.ORG>]

Sounds like a ver up-to-date version of the old SRA kit!  Deb>

> 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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