What AR is . . .

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What AR is . . .

by The Masked Avenger

Dec 29, 2010

The AR program is one way to assess independent reading ability. That's it.

It's not the reading program. It has never been marketed as that. It is merely one part of a complete reading program.

AR is also not a "teacher-less" program that allows the teacher to sit by while students read silently and take tests. It is actually a lot of work to implement and monitor the program.

How in the world do parents get these crazy ideas?

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Reading Program? What "complete reading program" is Renaissance trying to sell?

Their AR program has reading quizzes, literacy skills quizzes, and vocabulary quizzes. They ALL test independent reading abilities.

Most schools only use the reading quizzes, and those are the ones that parents are always in such a tizzy about.

Even with all...See More

Dec 29, 2010

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Fireman Dad On 12/29/10, The Masked Avenger wrote: > The AR program is one way to assess independent reading > ability. That's it. > > It's not the reading program. It has never been marketed as > that. It is merely one part of a complete reading program. > > AR is also not a "teacher-less" program that allows the > teacher to sit by wh...See More

Dec 30, 2010

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Are you saying AR is all they do for reading? Do you really mean that at your child's school all reading class consists of reading books for AR and NOTHING else? If that is true, you do have a legitimate complaint and if not, take it where it needs to go, the school, not this board. This board is for people who do use AR and where they can go to get help. You have beat this topic to death and ...See More

Dec 30, 2010

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Deb ms/IA In Fireman Dads original post almost a year ago it did not seem that AR was the ONLY reading program, in his sons elementary school. In fact his was upset that the school couldn't maintain 30 minutes of the 45 minutes a day reading time. AR goals were based on 45 minutes a day of reading with 30 done at school and 15 at home. Parents didn't mind 15...See MoreIn Fireman Dads original post almost a year ago it did not seem that AR was the ONLY reading program, in his sons elementary school. In fact his was upset that the school couldn't maintain 30 minutes of the 45 minutes a day reading time. AR goals were based on 45 minutes a day of reading with 30 done at school and 15 at home. Parents didn't mind 15 minutes a day of at home reading, but school wasn't holding their end of the deal up (which in ANY school it is difficult to set aside 30 minutes for quiet reading without sacrificing another subject).

Then dad took issue with grades AND goal setting. He quoted the page number in the AR handbook where it says aren't encouraged and went off in that direction. Getting grades for making goals is an acceptable practice and provided for in AR if a teacher needs to go in that direction. Dad was fine with goals but not with grades.

He was given advice about what he originally asked. IF his school was using AR as the ONLY reading grade or using ONLY AR as the core reading program he needed to go to his school and make changes. We can't change his school from this board. Instead he comes back here to beat a dead horse (one in which I added to also) and bully people on this board. He has very limited knowledge as to the workings of AR and he has no records to what this program can actually do when proper training and usage of AR are followed in the classroom. He is NOT here to assist in using AR, just trash it. He does not want questions answered he just wants to bully and look foolish.

Deb ms/IA

Here his original post:

We (my wife and I)are having some issues with the way AR is being used in our school. I have read many of the posts here and have done some information gathering from other parents, teachers, librarians principals and from other online data. Here are some of our concerns.

On page 22 of the "Getting Results with AR" booklet, it states "we do not recommend giving grades for reading practice". So why do schools feel the need to do this? Receiving a grade along with a point goal confuses what the main purpose is for AR, which I thought was reading practice.

Our school uses 45 minutes of reading time per day to get the point goal (30 minutes at school and 15 minutes at home), which is fine with us. The issue is that they dont get the full 30 minutes everyday or sometimes not at all, or in the 30 minutes set aside for reading the kids have to test and get a book from the library. This obviously cuts into the allotted reading time which is then needed to be made up at home. This in turn makes longer homework time which in turn is changing the reading attitude of my son.

So instead of having a "carrot" to get motivation to read, he sees it as a whip.

Does anyone have the same issues?

Dec 30, 2010

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The Masked Avenger Well said, Deb. Well said!

I wonder if Fireman Dad understands how much time he could have invested in his child's education while he's been here harassing us?

He could have read a book with his child. He could have visited the library with his child. He could have talked with the school's administration. He could have talked wi...See More

Dec 30, 2010

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