Reading program's success hinges on proper training

By Teresa Givens and Joan Haring

We have read the Speak Out comments regarding the Accelerated Reading program with interest and concern. With comments such as "All the kids are doing is reading for points so they can get a prize" and "If they don't pass a quiz they retake it after finding out the answers," basically one thing comes to mind: The program is not being implemented correctly.

We are both teachers as well as former reading consultants for Renaissance Learning, the company that developed Accelerated Reader. We have traveled over this entire country, not selling but teaching teachers how to use this program. We have seen major successes. And, yes, we have seen teachers who didn't like the program.

However, when the responses were negative, it was most often because the teachers had not been properly trained on how to implement the program or because they simply chose not to follow the recommended practices. We also saw many teachers who were so overburdened with various programs -- all promising to be the magic answer -- that they were unable to administer it correctly.

As teachers have been under such enormous pressure with state testing requirements due to No Child Left Behind, the U.S. Department of Education has responded by establishing the What Works Clearing House.

It uses a stringent process of testing research for various educational programs. Out of this extensive process, Accelerated Reader was proved to be an effective tool in improving reading achievement.

We have seen outstanding results with this program where children have become strong, happy readers. There are some excellent examples in this area, one of which is St. Mary Cathedral School here in Cape Girardeau. It has been named an Accelerated Reader Master School for 10 years in a row, an achievement that does not come easily, as there were only 127 schools out of approximately 70,000 school using Accelerated Reader worldwide that received this distinction for the 2007-08 school year.

Just walk in the door at the school and ask any student about reading.

Ask any teacher what his or her thoughts are about Accelerated Reader.

And then look at the state test results. It would be hard to come away unimpressed.

Teresa Givens and Joan Haring of Cape Girardeau are former reading consultants with Renaissance Learning Inc.