Year 3: Unhappy with Accelerated Reader

[biscotti435]

My son is in year 3. He is a bookworm and loves to read. Last year, he went through a major Roald Dahl phase and read almost all of them 3 times each and some Morpurgo etc. During lockdown+summer, he really got in to Enid Blyton specifically Wishing Chair and Secret Seven books and devoured them (these were classics I enjoyed as a kid and I'm aware they may be dated in certain ways but I like how they are not dumbed down in the English used and I don't want to censor - subject for another thread perhaps!!) I was planning on introducing him to some other classics this year.

I know a lot of the children in his year started Accelerated Reader last year in Year 2. During lockdown, his school used a lot of tech tools and they also said they can log into AR and if they don't have an account contact the school office etc. As he was reading so much daily anyway, I didn't think it would be useful as he was learning other things on screen time. They signed him up at the start of this year at school (I think he may have been one of the few if not the only one not already signed up).
He was put on level 2.8. The books are ridiculously easy for him and he finds them boring. Last week he had a book quiz and he was really unhappy with it when he came home. I tried to understand what he had found difficult but he didn't want to talk it. Ironically, what makes him feel better when he is upset is reading so he read some of his fave (home) book again.
He got 70% in the quiz, they need at least 80% on 3 books before they are moved to the next level. I think they take weekly quizzes. Anyway he really hated it. We often talk about the books he loves so he definitely understands them so its not like they are going over his head!

I am worried that:
(a) Maybe he is skim-reading (he does get through the books really fast - but this is why I was going to introduce him to higher level books so I don't know??) and there is some grain of truth to the assessment?
(b) Because its entirely new to him, he will need some practice and experience to do well on the AR tests relative to the kids who have been doing it since last year
(c) The form of assessment is not very accurate and if so, it will take ages for him to actually reach his real reading level at school even if he scores a pass on all future tests (having to pass 3+ times each level)
(d) It will discourage him. He is intelligent but very shy at school, mostly plays on his own which he has done since the beginning - this also worries me as he is in year 3 now. He is not averse to others, he wants to play, when he comes home he tells me upset that no one wanted to play with him so he played on his own again. He does average at school but randomly he will score low on assessments for various reasons (times tables tests are timed and he loses focus or panics, handwriting is much worse at school than at home) and I am beginning to think mainstream school doesn't really suit him at all. I feel like he progressed so much more at home than school during lockdown. The socialising aspect is important though as he is an only child but school is making him feel more lonely?? And unfortunately, this year seems to be the same again with the school giving him low expectations instead of pushing him to his potential which (I believe) is so much higher.

What does it sound like from your perspective? Please be honest!

Honestly if this is just about AR then you are over Thinking. If my dd doesn't get the test score she needs then I reinforce to her that she has all of info she needs inside the book she is claiming she read so maybe she should pay more attention.

The only way he is going to get through the AR scheme (which I think in our school all the kids are on) is by cracking on with the boring books and getting through the quizzes.

There's a wide range of books for each point level so he should also focus on spending time when choosing a book that he is interested in, the topic, even if the text is "too easy" for him.

I don't have direct experience of AR but something to consider is that whilst a child may be very proficient at reading words, they may struggle with the maturity required to understand the themes and concepts of the books whose words they are capable of reading. Could this be part of it? Schools tend to cover both the words themselves and the comprehension of the book before moving children up in level

I think you need to reframe this in your and his mind. Look on it as an opportunity to build some resilience. You didn't pass the first time so let's think how we can improve on that. Do you need to read certain parts again? Do you need to read the questions more carefully?

Being a fast reader is useful but if he is going to succeed at school he will need to pass exams and sometimes that means jumping through hoops. He may be decoding fluently but if he can't answer Qs he needs to practise that.

Have you seen an AR test?

First there is the Star reading test, this tests reading level and vocabulary and they will be given a book that matches their ability level.

Students then pick a book at the relevant level. AR gives books both an ability level and an interest level so a weak high school student would read a different level 4.3 book to a strong year 3 child.

The second test is specific to the book that they have read and is a comprehension test. This is a good guide to see how they have understand the story and language. The downfall is if it is a particularly long book that has taken a few weeks to read then you may have forgotten small details.

AR tests don't need practise or experience. If your son is skim reading then he needs to learn to read slower and to actually take in the story. If he isnt getting the answers right then there is a problem somewhere.

Reading to children is an incredibly important part of reading, why not introduce the classics you wanted to to your child but read them together and discuss the plot as you go. Just because a child CAN read the words doesn't mean paired reading isn't valuable, learning how to read ahead, using punctuation to express the story properly is a key skill.

AR has an option for each quiz of 'Read to myself' , 'read with someone' , 'read to me' if you can get his login details you will be able to see the quizzes at home to see what sort of areas to discuss in the next one you read together.

Can you enter books you have read at home and attempt those quizes? I know we could but we weren't in the UK so may well gave different software. They didnt allow you to progress, but did give you practice.

Thanks all for your help, made me think a lot.

Yes I will try to slow him down. I literally just went through a book with him and he had no trouble understanding anything in it all. I don't think its understanding concepts/words in the books. It could be not understanding some of the questions they ask? It could also be lack of attention just because he isn't interested in the particular book/questions. He remembers remarkable details from books he loves.

I asked his classteacher for the AR login but she said they are monitoring the book quizzes at school only so she won't be sending the logins home for now. Because of this I do not have access to what the test even looks like, I did a sample quiz online from their website but it was only a few questions. I do feel like I have put him at an disadvantage for not signing him up back in early summer.

I think the important thing to point out wrt AR is that it begins with a test of reading level, and then they are given books on that level.

So if the books are ridiculously easy, then he is failing that test, which suggests either he isn't reading as well and you think, or that he is misunderstanding something in how the tets works.

Once he has a level, he can read any book at that level, so you can go on line and find lists of books for him to readas long as they have been allocated a level, you can read, anything, he doens't have to read what school picks. This is the advantage of AR that you can choose any book.
I think I would write to the class teacher and explain th egap between his readin and the tests and ask if she could let you see one test so that you can understand what it is he isn't getting and help him.
At the same time you could give expamples of books he has read, and appears to understand.

can you tell us which books he has been sent home with?
By the way, I woudl say Secret Seven is much easier that most Road Dahl. Other Enid Blytons are harder, but secret seven is the easy end.

one test so that you can understand what it is he isn't getting and help him
by this I mean if there is a style of question he is struggling with. eg if there are questions on meanings of words, and he finds it hard to do those out of context

The quizzes for each book aren't long approximately 10 multiple choice questions about the book.
For example for Matilda a question might be "Where did Matilda go on her own?"
A. The library
B. The supermarket
C. Her dad's garage
D. The hair salon

It's very simple they just chose the correct option then press next.
At the end they get a number of points to go towards their total so if Matilda is worth 3 points and he gets one wrong then hell get say 2.8 towards his overall total and then there's a little animation of a plant getting watered and the closer they are to their goal the bigger the plant grows.

These points are separate from levels and are to encourage regular reading.

My child started AR last year but didn’t spent very long on it before lockdown. She rejoined it this year at the same level (based on the star reader test). I was surprised as her reading has progressed hugely in 6 months but it is what it is. The books do seem easy but fortunately she can quiz every day (she reads the book twice first - once in the evening and once in the morning. They are short and quick to read at her level!). She has to get 100% three times before she moves up a level and so far she’s already moved up several levels. If the pace continues then hopefully the gap between what she’s capable of at home and what she does at school will close but we’ll see. When she first did a quiz, she did get a low % but since then it’s been 100% each time so I do think there is a little bit of getting used to it!

Do they really only let them quiz weekly? I’d ask about that. It’s really independently done so hopefully they can do it more frequently.

I dislike it too but not much I can do about it given it’s a school wide scheme. Encourage them to read at home / read to them and don’t worry about it too much.

This shows a good overview of AR

@steppemum Yes I do want to figure out which kind of questions he is getting wrong. The book he got sent home with, and the one we just read together, is Mr & Mrs Hay the Horse. It's very simple for him. His teacher picked it for him. This will be his second AR book quiz so will see how he does on it.

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime Thanks it sounds simple. I wonder why it frustrated him.

@JAB67 Yeah I do wish they were more frequent.

Next time he finishes a book, ask him some questions on it. See how much he is retaining.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz yep, I just did with the book I mentioned above. Answered all fine.

I don't think he is an advanced reader for his age by the way! But he is definitely an avid reader and enjoys his encyclopedias and comic books as much as his stories. I don't really know what kids his age are reading to be honest. I just want him to be considered at his right level at school so he progresses well.

Will chat to his teacher at parents evening in October. I don't want to complain about AR, just want to make sure he has a fair chance at it and find out what either I or the teacher are missing.

You can buy great comprehension booklets of Amazon. They are used in English comprehension exams. My dd2 has just gone in to Y3. She was a fantastic reader and ahead of her Y2 group but over the lock down I realised she wasn’t absorbing what she was actually reading. The booklets were great and really pulled her comprehension up. We used Schofield and sims first comprehension and CGP English comprehension targeted questions. Made a massive difference.

I've had exactly the same issue with two of my children, good readers - but they're all not that confident with new processes and were all given far too low a level at the initial selection process. Both were free readers (as assessed by the teachers at the end of year 2)

I got very frustrated with DS1, teacher refused to assess him herself and eventually I just said that we're not reading the books brought home which were basically picture books with a few words underneath. DS continued to just read stuff that I provided and we ignored the AR until it had caught up with the level we were on.
DS2 had exactly the same issue, but the school just said that he could read at a higher level.

DD had the opposite problem, her books were far too hard! She's a slow reader and was bringing home books that would have taken her months to get through. Her school were more obliging and just adjusted her level manually.

I think the AR system works well with reluctant readers who obviously get to choose from a wider range of books, which may encourage them to read more. I'm not a fan though.

I think you'll just ahve to put your foot down OP.

really, the way it works is supposed to be that they can read lots and quiz lots, so quizzing once a week seems to defeat the object.
I also hate the way schools then choose the books, they way it was designed was that they could choose any books, ones that interest them, and they could put them in and see if they were the right level.

So I would be asking for the log in, so he can quiz lots and move up.

We’ve had the same issue with AR - not a fan of the scheme in general. This year though, it seems to be working for DD (year 6) she has a bigger range to choose books so doesn’t feel as restricted to a very narrow range of books. She was not motivated at all for the last few years as didn’t understand why she could read some books and not others (when she was reading them at home). It’s partly how it’s explained and implemented in the school

I have some experience teaching AR and tbh it's a very technical way of assessing reading. It's works for kids that hate reading but become good at tests but for high flyers it is often tedious. 2.8 sounds very low to me - did he mess us the initial assessment? I've got a feeling my lowers in Y3 were on that level but it was a while ago! Tbh I would say to the teacher that he'd like to take the initial test again to see if he can read books that are more his level and impress on him the importance of the test. If he gets the same - fair enough he needs to recognise that and work on his comprehension skills.. if he doesn't then you have motivation for concentration.

DS1 blames Accelerated Reader for his going from being an absolute bookworm who read several adult books a week, to barely reading at all. It felt like every book he fancied reading wasn't on the approved list, and his school gave him a very high number of points to achieve each term so that they could come top in the national competition each year!

He freely admits that in the end he'd fill in the quizzes having not read the book and he'd just skim through the pages to find the answer to each question (always went in order ie first question about chapter 1, then a question about chapter 3, then 7, and so on). His friends felt the same about it and did similar! And the next time his reading was assessed he deliberately did badly, so he could avoid having to get 100 points that half term. They'd do quizzes for books they'd read years before to get their numbers up.

This was in secondary school though and he had the login. They were encouraged to complete as many quizzes as humanly possible from home. It doesn't sound as though this is how it is generally supposed to be used - I suspect DS's school's obsession with national level achievements is to blame here...

@DaenarysStormborn

I have some experience teaching AR and tbh it's a very technical way of assessing reading. It's works for kids that hate reading but become good at tests but for high flyers it is often tedious. 2.8 sounds very low to me - did he mess us the initial assessment? I've got a feeling my lowers in Y3 were on that level but it was a while ago! Tbh I would say to the teacher that he'd like to take the initial test again to see if he can read books that are more his level and impress on him the importance of the test. If he gets the same - fair enough he needs to recognise that and work on his comprehension skills.. if he doesn't then you have motivation for concentration.

I think he did mess up on the initial assessment, and then again on the book quiz...I really don't know though.

This evening he did a quiz on bookadventure.com which I found (I read somewhere it is similar to AR but free). It was for Charlotte's Web which he read about 6 months ago, he scored 7/10. They all seemed like memory questions to me not comprehension (I was quite surprised he could remember all the details of the characters anyway, also he actually enjoyed the quiz because that's a book he liked).

What 'comprehension' questions will there be for simple storybooks that he's on now anyway when it's all so straightforward? It's quite silly to depend entirely on something on a computer. I would rather he be given a manual test and then locate that level on AR and be tested on a book on that level, but that's up to the teacher. Like others reminded me, school is about jumping the hoops.

I think speak to the teacher, from what you have said I would be worried he is simply bored by the books he’s given and not investing much in them.
However, I would also say you need to be prepared for the fact that there is an area he isn’t hitting yet that the school are picking up on and you aren’t, so do keep an open mind. If that is the case though, they should be able to tell you which area it is that he is struggling with/is holding him back.

It's a balancing act sometimes to keep them engaged and I do worry that all these quizzes can backfire with bookworms, as @Roomba describes.

I think a 2 pronged attack. Firstly continue to let him read more advanced stuff at home, give him books that suit his interests, read with him and to him. Try to keep his interest up in "reading real books". Maybe get him a magazine subscription if he likes nonfiction. So cultivating the sense that reading is wider and more fun than his reading scheme.

Second, tempting as it is to blame the scheme, that will just encourage him to stay checked out. You clearly believe that these quizzes are well within his capability, so if he complains they are boring, remind him that he has the agency to get himself on to the next level. He just has to concentrate and nail those tests. Look at them as his ticket to more interesting books, rather than a pointless hurdle.

There is an art to taking tests - you slow down and read the question properly. Maybe he is just not reading the questions properly, if he can answer aural questions better than written ones. I despair of the growth mindset thing at times but I'm not sure this one is best solved by the parent complaining to the teacher. Give him a few weeks of encouragement to sort it out himself, without denigrating the system to him.

https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2011&context=lajm Disrupting the Flow: The Detrimental Effects of Accelerated Reader on Student Motivation