Accelerated Reader (AR)

Port Jervis students in grades 2-8 read 10,000 books!
 

Students at every reading level have numerous books to select from on the AR list.

Reading is on the rise in the Port Jervis School District. District officials are proud to announce that students in grades 2-8 have read 10,000 books since the beginning of the school year. Motivated by the fun and easy-to-use Accelerated Reading (AR) program, students at Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School, Anna S. Kuhl Elementary School, and Port Jervis Middle School are reading more often and at a higher level. Computer records generated by the web-based reading system show the students reached the 10,000 mark on Jan. 31.    

The Accelerated Reader (AR) program is a computerized program that tests reading comprehension. The program is currently in use in more than 45,000 schools across the country. The program, which is geared toward students in grades 2 to 8, was added to the Port Jervis School District curriculum in 2007 as part of the district's ongoing initiative to improve student learning through technology.

The web-based software allows students to access the reading program from their classroom, library, or home on any computer with Internet access. Direct links to Accelerated Reader are located on this web site - on the elementary and middle school web pages.

AR is motivating students to read more often and at a higher level.
Here's how it works:
 

A Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School student takes the AR test on one of the school's new lap-top computers.

• Students select a book from the more than 25,000 titles on the AR list. Each book is assigned a point value based on the number of words it contains and its reading difficulty.

• After reading the book at his or her own pace, the student goes to the computer and takes a multiple-choice comprehension test on the book's content. Tests may have 5, 10, or 20 items, depending on the length and difficulty of the book. The computer scores the test, awards the student points based on the results, and keeps a complete record. For a book valued at 10 AR points, such as Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, a student would receive 10 points for a score of 100 percent, 9 points for 90 percent, and so on. However, the student must score at least 60 percent on the test to earn any points at all.

• The AR program software provides classroom teachers with an automatically updated analysis of scores for individuals or whole classes; details include average percentage of correctly answered questions, difficulty of books read, points earned, and other diagnostic information. Computer-generated “at-risk reports” enable the teacher to guide each student's reading practice for maximum effectiveness.