A recently published report on ‘Trends in Student Outcome Measures’ confirmed the value of implementing best practices for Accelerated Reader on students’ reading abilities and performance.

AR best practices include daily reading for at least 15 minutes, achieving an average of 85% correct on quizzes, and staying within the recommended reading range.

Supporting reading in Primary schools

From the latest research, primary students using AR are more likely to be on track to meet the Key Stage 2 assessment benchmark. They show remarkable improvement in their reading skills, with 91% of students who followed the best practices achieving or exceeding the KS2 benchmark compared to only 64% of students not using Accelerated Reader.

Richard Slade shares his top tips for implementing Accelerated Reader in a Primary school, which you can read in full in his article here:

PRIZE

• Parents – bring them with you on your school’s AR journey
• Reward schemes help to show how much your school values reading
• Include all students
• ZPD range and book levels help to drive diversity of choice
• Ensure everyone understands that AR is evidence-based

Supporting reading in Secondary schools

When students transition from primary to secondary school, some struggle, especially those who didn’t meet the expected standards in their Key Stage 2 SATs. However, the research shows that those using Accelerated Reader saw remarkable improvements by the end of the school year. Moreover, students likely to receive Year 7 catch-up funding and using AR were more likely to meet the benchmarks.

Struggling readers also make accelerated progress in their reading compared to their peers through the use of AR best practice, and disadvantaged students who used AR were more likely to be prepared for Key Stage tests at primary. In the research, nearly twice as many struggling readers at primary level were better prepared for their KS2 SATs by following AR best practice.

Natasha Stevenson and Georgina Stapleton’s tips for building success with Accelerated Reader at Secondary, which you can read in full in their article here:

• Take time to explain how AR and Star work to students who are unfamiliar with them
• Encourage students to take ownership of their literacy progress by giving them access to their AR progress page

Boosting maths confidence and engagement

When students have access to practice designed just for them, there’s no limit to what they’ll discover – and what they can achieve. Freckle facilitates maths engagement with work at the ‘just right’ step that motivates students to reach their full potential.

An early adopter of Freckle in the UK, Catherine Magee shares her recommendations for implementing Freckle to improve maths outcomes, which you can read in full in her article here:

• Bring the parents with you – parental buy-in is essential
• Use the reports to focus on areas for improvement
• Don’t succumb to data overload – concentrate on the most useful reports