[CALIBK12] AR Corrections

[David Bogardus]

reposted from rejected address--
I have been listening to Stephen Krashen for years tell us that reading incentive programs have little effect on student reading scores. "Students read better when they have unfettered access to books and they can read what they want." HOW this happens has been not well defined, and when attempts are made, it seems the role of the librarian is rather insignificant. Often it seems, we are being told to get out of the way and just fill orders as if we worked at a Literacy Home Town Buffet.
 
I would have to write an entire paper on what we have seen in our District as we rolled out Accelerated Reader Enterprise Edition; and I can't blame anyone who was caught in the reading incentive "Points for Pencils" literacy movement, I would suggest it may be because you lifted the lid and looked in the trunk instead of the engine. 
 
We are using AR as a reading comprehension program, so that when a student finds a book they want to read, they know they are working on understanding what they are enjoying and because they know the book level, they know how much they will be challenged. (This may solve some of the unfinished books talked about earlier.) Teachers and librarians are encouraged to model good comprehension strategies during read alouds and throughout the year, students are asked to do their very best on each test. This makes AR perfect for Reaching and Teaching every student. It is also a perfect model to help coach students to better and broader reading. In AR, we sent goals just like a coach, based on Accuracy, Frequency, and Difficulty. If you have a tool that does this any better, I would love to see it in action!
 
This is not a time in California to operate our libraries with the "Business as Usual" model. California students do not have their school library on speed dial. We can not just open the doors and hope they will come and check out all of our wonderful titles. Just compare your computer use to your book circulation if you find this hard to believe. 
 
With Reading Practice integrated into our Reading Instruction, our District's goal is to use AR as one tool to get our schools out of Program Improvement and so far, based on the enthusiasm from our students, teachers, and administrators, and our fidelity to the program, we are well on the way. 
 
David Bogardus
Teacher Specialist-Instructional Materials
Pomona Unified School District