Accelerated Reader Usage and Reading Proficiency Scores During Second Grade Presented to R. D. Head Elementary Staff and Administration November 30, 2002

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Accelerated Reader Usage and Reading Proficiency
ScoresDuring Second GradePresented to R. D.
Head ElementaryStaff and AdministrationNovember
30, 2002

• Lisa C. Campbell
• Paula K. Flageolle

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The Question

• Does a high level of participation in the
  Accelerated Reader program translate into
  significantly improved reading scores, compared
  with two classrooms with average use?
• Can we in good faith support this widely used and
  expensive program?

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What does previous research say?

• Other case studies

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Study 1

• A researcher followed two second grade classes
  over a six-week period. One class read
  Accelerated Reader books and took the
  accompanying quizzes to earn points. The other
  class read books of their own choosing for thirty
  minutes per night over the same time span.

• Conclusion
• The study ended with both groups taking a reading
  comprehension test. There was no difference in
  reading comprehension scores at the end of the
  six weeks (Toro, 2001) .

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Study 2

• A study was written on the effects of the AR
  program in Tennessee's K-5 schools by comparing
  comprehension scores from schools with AR to
  those without AR.

• Conclusion
• It was concluded that students using AR did not
  fair as high in comprehension as those that did
  not use AR (Paul, 1997).

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Study 3

• At the Annual Meeting of the National Reading
  Conference on November 30, 2000, researchers
  presented findings of a study on whether seventh
  grade students who had participated in the
  Accelerated Reader program in elementary school
  read more books than seventh graders who had not.
  

• Conclusion
• Use of the Accelerated Reader at the elementary
  school level did not make a difference in the
  reading habits of seventh grade students, as
  measured by the Title Recognition Test.

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Additional Findings of Study 3

• Moreover, there was no significant statistical
  difference in reading volume between Accelerated
  Reader participants and non-Accelerated Reader
  participants as a whole. The trend in test scores
  actually showed that those seventh graders who
  had not been exposed to Accelerated Reader in
  elementary school were reading more than their
  counterparts were (Pavonetti, Brimmer,
  Cipielewski, 2000).

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Study 4

• At the National Reading Research Center
  conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 4,
  1996, Accelerated Reader data gathered on over
  659,000 students from 13,000 schools nation-wide
  was presented.

• Conclusion
• The researchers concluded that there is a
  positive correlation between Accelerated Reader
  data and the reading scores from National
  Assessment of Educational Progress (Topping
  Paul, 1999).

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Confused?

• The results of available literature seem
  confusing. Each study had strengths and
  weaknesses that might have altered the resulting
  conclusions.

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Background The Unique Opportunity

• Mrs. A., who teaches second grade at R. D. Head
  Elementary, participated in the AR program to
  such an extent that her students read over three
  times the number of books that two other second
  grade classrooms (Mrs. B. and Mrs. C.) read
  during our one year study.

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Our own study develops

• How would we accurately measure the number of
  books read and reading comprehension levels?
• We used
• Star Reading
• Accelerated Reader

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Instrument for Defining Reading Scores

• Star Reading software was used to collect data.
  Each time students took the reading test, the
  software calculated several norm-referenced
  scores including grade equivalent (GE) scores,
  instructional reading levels, and percentile
  rankings. The Summary Report provided the scores
  for each student. The focal interest of this
  research was the GE score.

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Instrument for Defining Student Participation

• As students took Accelerated Reader quizzes on
  books they read, the software kept track of their
  scores, the number of books read, and the number
  of quizzes passed (defined as a score of 60
  percent or better).

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Research Process

• To begin, we needed to capture the data on these
  students who were currently in the third grade.
  This demanded unenrolling each student from their
  classroom and enrolling them into last years
  second grade classroom.
• Students who did not participate for the full
  school year were excluded.
• The participants were predominately Caucasian
  children of both genders. There were
• 19 children in Class A
• 18 children in Class B
• 18 children in Class C

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Collecting Data

• We ran Star reports at three checkpoints
  throughout second grade for all three classrooms,
  and once more at the beginning of third grade.
• Individual Student Summary reports were run
  concurrently with the Star Reports revealing the
  number of books read at that point.

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Comparisons

• We compared the number of AR books read by Mrs.
  As students with the control classrooms at these
  four checkpoints three throughout the second
  grade school year and one at the beginning of
  third grade.
• Reading proficiency tests were compared with this
  data.

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Analysis of Data

• We entered data into Excel spreadsheets, but
  needed a software program that was more
  user-friendly to generate the statistics.
• We downloaded the demo version of GraphPads
  Prism.
• We copy and pasted from Excel into Prism.
• We ran the various automatic analyses and
  consulted the online help.

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The Numbers

• Mrs. As students 161 books per student
• Mrs. Bs students 53 books per student
• Mrs. Cs students 40 books per student

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The dramatic difference
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Reading Proficiency GrowthDuring Second Grade

• Class A gained 12 months
• Class B gained 7 months
• Class C gained 8 months

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Comparison of Data
There is a direct correlation in our study
between the average number of books read and the
average change in grade equivalent reading levels.
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Statistics at the First Checkpoint

• There was no significant statistical difference
  in students mean reading proficiency scores
  among the three classes at the beginning of the
  2nd grade year (One-way ANOVA test, Plt0.05).

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Statistics at the Final Checkpoints

• There was significant statistical difference in
  the mean number of AR books read among the three
  classes at the end of the 2nd grade year (One-way
  ANOVA test, Plt0.05).
• There was significant statistical difference in
  students mean reading proficiency scores among
  the three classes at the end of the 2nd grade
  year (One-way ANOVA test, Plt0.05).
• There was significant statistical difference in
  students mean reading proficiency scores among
  the three classes at the beginning of the 3rd
  grade year (One-way ANOVA test, Plt0.05).

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Our Interpretation of the Results

• Statistically there was no difference in the
  beginning second grade reading levels in all
  three classes.
• There was significant statistical difference in
  the ending second grade reading levels.
• The students in Class A retained the statistical
  difference over the summer.
• Therefore, we believe that the level of AR usage
  (i.e., the number of books read) had a valid and
  notable impact on increasing students reading
  proficiency.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

• We conclude that the AR program at R. D. Head
  Elementary is most effective when used as a major
  component of a reading program during the second
  grade.
• We recommend that second grade teachers expand
  their usage of the AR program.
• Further, we recommend that AR usage and its
  benefits should be explored more thoroughly.

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Implications

• The results of our study imply that the benefits
  of using AR increase with its level of
  implementation.
• Gains in reading proficiencies at the second
  grade level suggest wider usage throughout the
  school.
• The sustained gains over the summer lead us to
  believe that AR is a worthwhile reading tool.

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References

• McKnight, D. (1992). Using the Accelerated Reader
  and other strategies and varied techniques to
  improve the reading attitudes of fifth grade
  students. Dissertations/Theses-Practicum Papers
  (043). Retrieved September 8, 2002 from ERIC
  Dissertations/Theses.
• Pavonetti, L. M., Brimmer, K. M., Cipielewski,
  J. F. (2000). Accelerated Reader What are the
  lasting effects on the reading habits of middle
  school students exposed to Accelerated Reader in
  elementary schools?. Scottsdale, Arizona Annual
  Meeting of the National Reading Conference.
  (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED456423)

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References

• Topping, K. J., Paul, T. D. (1999).
  Computer-assisted assessment of practice at
  reading A large scale survey using Accelerated
  Reader data. Reading Writing Quarterly, 15,
  213-231.
• Toro, A. (2001). A comparison of reading
  achievement in second grade students using the
  Accelerated Reading program and independent
  reading. (Eric Document Reproduction Service No.
  ED455510)

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Links for further information

• Research Proposal
• Instrument and Materials
• Research Plan