AR pros/cons

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Home : 2003 : September : 24

AR pros/cons
By Susan/IN

The cons listed above certainly are something to take a look at and consider, but I'm going to try to address some of the pros.

As a Title I / Reading Recovery teacher, I was hestitant at first to use this program because
I just wasn't sure where or how to fit it into our tight schedule. To address the con of these being computer generated tests - you can make up your own tests for books. I have done that many times. And, I have even included a few higher level thinking questions. It isn't hard to do.
Often our Title I kids felt like they couldn't be successful taking an AR test, but because they

were able to "practice" in the Title I room, the kids became confident and willing to take risks in the classrooms.

If you are aware of your child's reading level, you can set a range of books for your children to read. You may want to set that level at instructional - independent level so they can practice fluency, comprehension , decoding with little guidance from you. You can give that guidance during your instruction time and encourage children to use those skills when they are reading independently.

We have had this program for about 3 years and our reading scores on the whole have increased. I'm sure that is not solely because of AR but children are reading more - so they are bound to get better (at least most of them).

Hope this helps.