In defense of Accelerated Reading

This is in response to a March 14 letter which attacked Simi Valley Unified School District's use of the Accelerated Reader, or AR, program in our schools.

The author prefaced her comments with disclaimers saying her facts do not apply to all Simi schools.

She labeled teachers as having "cowed ignorance" and stated her opinions as fact. As an elementary teacher who supports Accelerated Reader, I want myself and my school excluded from the author's generalizations.

Accelerated Reader by Renaissance Learning is a highly researched reading program that is personalized for each student.

Information, including research and data from thousands of students, can be found at www.renlearn.com. Welldocumented research is what attracted our staff to AR.

Teachers can access a variety of reports about students. I present parents with a copy of their child's personalized report at parent conferences.

The purpose of AR is to accelerate learning for all students. Students take a diagnostic test on the computer.

This determines an individual range of reading levels. Whether students are above, at or below grade level, they are challenged to increase vocabulary and comprehension and practice reading fluency. Students get immediate feedback by seeing their score on the computer screen. They can also choose to view any questions they missed with the correct answer provided.

As to the concern that completed tests taken by students are kept secret, I believe the purpose is to prevent students from accessing a copy of an older sibling's test and studying it. That would compromise the test's validity.

Obtaining and using Accelerated Reader at our school was not dictated by our principal. It was a staff decision which included her.

Our teachers choose how they will implement AR. AR was installed by our former librarian through hours of dedicated work. Our current librarian provides an excellent and wellorganized library of fiction and nonfiction books.

We have many generous parents who have donated $3 to purchase a quiz for a newly acquired book.

Good readers read. Research by Anderson et al, 1988 and Paul, 1993, indicates that students who score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests spend 40 to 60 minutes per day in independent reading.

Those who score at the 50th percentile average just 13 to 15 minutes per day. My students turn in a monthly reading list of their home reading.

Most high achieving readers read or listen to 500 to 1,000 pages per month. AR is one tool that guides this reading.

Vinette Slatten

White Oak Elementary Simi Valley