Reading More and Monitoring Progress Spell Success for Texas Elementary School

Alice D. Contreras Elementary, Fort Worth, Texas (TX)

Abstract:

DETAILS: School Profile: 870 students in grades pre-K-5; Demographics: Urban, Title I, Bilingual, Free/reduced lunch: 91%; Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino: 92%, White: 5%, Asian/Pacific Islander: 3%; Measure: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS); Duration: 2003-2006.

RESULTS: Since beginning to use Accelerated Reader, the percent of students at Contreras Elementary that have Met Standards in reading on the TAKS has grown steadily in each grade tested. Fifth-grade scores in particular have grown 34 percentage points, from 55% of students scoring proficient in 2003 to 89% of students scoring proficient in 2006. What's more, the impact of Accelerated Reader to encourage teacher-guided, independent reading of self-selected books and the schools support of parent-child programs to foster a love of reading has prompted students to check out almost 60,000 more books in 2006 as compared to when Accelerated Reader was first implemented in 2001.

REPORTING EDUCATOR: Linda Lawrence.

The full report is available online.

Publication Date:
03/01/2007