Renaissance tools, including Accelerated Reader, eduCLIMBER, myIGDIs, myON, Nearpod, and Star Assessments, are supported by peer-reviewed research. This document provides a list of the peer-reviewed research available for reading and math practice products as well as assessment products. This document is only available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R35595>.

About What Kidsa are Reading 2025 Our very own Gene Kerns penned the Introduction to this year's report, which shares the reading habits of 5 million K--12 students, from 21,259 schools across all 50 states and DC, who read 173 million books during the 2023--2024 school year. This year's report explores the importance of kids spending 15 minutes on reading practice daily--a manageable amount for busy readers that our data show is the sweet spot to see real gains in terms of literacy achievement and vocabulary exposure. Two new report features highlight our findings, The Magic of 15 Purposeful Minutes spread on pp. 8--9, and the research questions and answers found in our four new Inspired to Read spreads kicking off each section of the report: What Kids are Reading is organized by grade range, with each section beginning with an Inspired to Read spread bursting with reading motivation. At the top of these pages, we've included two book lists: (1) Recognizing Resilience, featuring an array of stories whose characters display grit and tenacity, allowing readers to feel seen as well as broaden their understanding and empathy for others, and (2) Series Sets, where we've highlighted a book series for each grade level that was read by students who also favored a series from the Top Print list for that grade. Spanning the bottom of these pages, we explore The Magic of 15 Purposeful Minutes by examining the impact of kids spending just 15 minutes per day reading, using data from our Accelerated Reader database for the 2023--2024 school year. The following page begins with a Teacher Recommendation, from a reading survey conducted in January 2025 of educators spanning all grade levels, who answered a short series of questions regarding student book reading. Then, a map displaying Signature Books, that ranked higher in popularity in each state than they did nationwide, and four Fresh Finds, comprising books that kids first quizzed on during Fall 2024. Each individual grade level includes a Highest Rated book that received the most stars from kids in that grade who opted to rate books on a 4-point scale after reading and quizzing. Next up, two ranked booklists, Top Print (from Accelerated Reader) and Popular Digital (from myON), both display books by series, where appropriate, to allow as many unique authors and titles on the lists as possible. The myON books also do not repeat from grade to grade to include even more distinct titles. Finally, each grade level features a curated list of Authentic Spanish texts. The Full Report and additional information is available online: <https://www.renaissance.com/wkar>.

This is a quick-reference list of the key research supporting Acelerated Reader and is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R33639>. For brief summaries of the key research for Accelerated Reader, see "Accelerated Reader Software and Accelerated Reader Best Practices: Key Scientifically Based Research Summary."

This document examines the evidence base for Accelerated Reader that meets the requirements of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R61323>.

This study explores the impact of Accelerated Reader on student reading achievement and growth. Accelerated Reader is designed to motivate, monitor, and manage students' independent reading practice and support their stamina and skill growth through wide reading. Research-based guidelines, goal-setting features, and tools for matching students with appropriate texts promote dynamic reading practice that is shown to optimize academic growth. For this study, we drew upon a sample of over 1.8 million students from the 2023-2024 school year. The findings indicate that students using Accelerated Reader, particularly at recommended levels, showed significantly higher growth compared to non-users. Struggling readers and English Language Learners also benefited from Accelerated Reader. The study concludes that Accelerated Reader is an effective tool for boosting reading skills and closing achievement gaps, with higher fidelity in usage leading to better outcomes.The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R58148>.

This study examined patterns of academic growth and performance according to the extent of individualised reading practice accomplished by students. We drew upon large databases comprised of thousands of UK students in year groups 1-13 to compare independent reading practice as tracked by Accelerated Reader (AR) with the typical performance of students who do not use the programme. The study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R67533>.

This study examined patterns of expected National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) readiness according to the extent of individualised reading practice accomplished by students using the Accelerated Reader (AR) program. We drew upon a large database of thousands of Australian students to compare independent reading practice as tracked by AR with the typical performance of students who do not use the programme. The study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R66928>.

Frome the abstract: " One often used approach to increase students' reading frequency is investing in independent silent reading (ISR) at schools: regularly scheduling time during which students read silently in books of their own choice. However, evidence for the impact of ISR is inconclusive and there appear to be important barriers to its effects on students' reading frequency, motivation, and proficiency: particularly struggling readers have difficulties choosing appropriate books, simply allotting time for reading does not guarantee that students read, ISR lacks accountability, and students are not always given the opportunity to interact about what they read. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to test whether additions to ISR that aim to overcome these barriers contribute to the effects of ISR on students' reading. Using outcomes of 51 effect studies covering 56 samples of students in primary and secondary education, we established a small but significant positive short-term intervention effect on overall reading proficiency (Cohen's d = 0.27). We additionally found that additions to ISR were particularly effective for students at risk of reading failure; for stronger readers, effects were absent. Finally, we found a negative effect of help or instruction by the teacher, which suggests that activities during reading might interfere with students' engagement with texts."Citation: Merke, S., Ganushchak, L., & van Steensel, R. (2024). Effects of additions to independent silent reading on students' reading proficiency, motivation, and behavior: Results of a meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 42. The study is available online: <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100572>.

Accelerated Reader has recently received Digital Promise's for Instructional Learning Products certification. This certification is intended to serve as a reliable signal for consumers, including school administrators, educators, and families, looking for evidence of educational technology (edtech) products that are based in research about learning. Renaissance submitted evidence confirming a link between research on how students learn and Accelerated Reader's design.The certification is available online: <https://productcertifications.digitalpromise.org/research-based-certified-products/>.

This document is a summary of recent research on Accelerated Reader including accolades, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R52954>.

Frome the abstract: "Accelerated reader (AR) is a computerized reading program commonly used in schools. The program aims to enhance students' reading achievement and encourage students to read more through goal setting and frequent reading practice. A meta-analytic review of the AR was conducted to analyse its effectiveness as an evidence-based intervention for improving student reading achievement, attitude, and motivation. This study investigated potential moderating variables, including publication type, participant, and study characteristics that impact student reading outcomes. A total of 44 studies from peer-reviewed journal articles and dissertations met the inclusion criteria. Participants included 16,653 students enrolled in elementary, middle, and high school. Hedges' g effect sizes measures suggest pretest-posttest one-group AR studies have moderate effects (g = 0.541) while comparison group AR studies have marginal effects (g = 0.278). A meta-regression model of six potential categorical moderators of comparison group studies indicted no significant moderators. Implications and the need for further research regarding evidence-based and culturally appropriate reading interventions are discussed."PLEASE NOTE: The Summary of this peer-reviewed journal article: Tischner, C. M., Ebner, S. E., Aspiranti, K. B., Klingbeil, D. A., & Fedewa, A. L. (2023). Effectiveness of Accelerated Reader on children's reading outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Dyslexia, 29(1), 22-39. is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R66509>.

This Accelerated Reader summary graphic explains the breadth of educational study designs, displays a barometer of study rigor/strength of findings, and pinpoints examples of research supporting Accelerated Reader for each study type. Unlike our competitors, research support for Accelerated Reader numbers more than 180 studies spanning all of these categories and covering a variety of school and students populations.The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R58266>.

From the results; "This quantitative research aimed to assess the effects of AR as a strategy to improve students' reading achievements and scaled scores. To this end, I collected perspectives from teachers who used AR for their Chinese primary tudents. In this section, I mainly present the results of the data analysis. First, I report the participants' and their students' demographic characteristics. Next, I present descriptive statistics and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to analyse the effects of AR. Then, I illustrate the results of the correlation and multiple linear regression analyses used to test the relationships between the AR mechanisms and reading achievements. Lastly, the main points demonstrated in the chapter are summarised."Citation: Tan, H., Yang, F., Zhang, H., & Chakraborty, D. (2022, October). Inveestigate the effectiveness of the Accelerated Reader program on primary school students' reading outcomes in China. Monash University.(Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.)