DETAILS: School Profile: 346 students in grades 1-4 at Lower School / 394 students in grades 5-8 at Middle School; Race/Ethnicity: American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.8%, Asian or Pacific Islander: 0.5%, Black or African American: 3.5%, Hispanic or Latino: 0.4%, White: 89%, Other: 5.9%. RESULTS: Students with high Star Reading pretest scores increased reading achievement by 6 percentile points, on average, in 1 year after using Accelerated Reader with best classroom practices. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Marylee Noble, librarian/media specialist. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R11789>.

DETAILS: School Profile: 167 students in grades K-6; Demographics: Title I, Limited English proficiency: 22%, Free/reduced lunch: 79%, Mobility: 73%; Race/Ethnicity: American Indian or Alaska Native: 2%, Black or African American: 1%, Hispanic or Latino: 56%, White: 41%. RESULTS: First- and 2nd-grade students made significant gains in reading using Accelerated Reader with best practices--test scores increased 21 percentile points in 8 months, and library circulation increased by 764%. REPORTING EDUCATORS: Jeffrey Lofthus, principal; Jane Uzzell, teacher. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R11787>.

Results revealed that Accelerated Reader with best practices impacts the reading programs of a number of schools and consequently addresses the majority of CSRD criteria. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.

DETAILS: Design: Independent, correlational. RESULTS: Evaluations of teacher reactions to staff development for Accelerated Reader revealed that teachers appeared enthusiastic and motivated by training, administrator participation is important, and the librarian's role is critical. AUTHORS: D. Holman and A. McLin. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.

DETAILS: Location: Idaho; Design: Independent, quasi-experimental; Sample: 21,534 students in grades 1-9 at 76 schools; Measure: Norm-referenced test; Duration: 3 years. RESULTS: The J. A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation commissioned a report to evaluate the effectiveness of its Idaho Reading Initiative, which included Accelerated Reader and best classroom practices. The foundation established the Initiative in response to national concerns about children's reading and academic progress, and to impact multiple aspects of childhood reading, including teacher and librarian training and parent education. It was shown to have a far-reaching impact on Idaho public schools and "provided an integrated network of collaborative partnerships focused on the critical reading needs of the early childhood years." This report indicates that Accelerated Reader and best classroom practices produced substantial reading achievement gains--particularly for grades 1-4 and in schools where teachers were well trained in the use of the progress-monitoring system. The average time spent reading at all grade levels increased by 127% and more than half the students in each grade averaged above 85% on Accelerated Reader quizzes (a component of good implementation). Accelerated Reader was one of only 2 tools found to directly and significantly improve student-reading outcomes. AUTHOR: Herbert J. Walberg, PhD. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R40782>.

DETAILS: School Profile: 645 students in grades K-6; Demographics: Title I, Free/reduced lunch: 31%, Mobility: 16%, Limited English Proficiency: 6%; Race/Ethnicity:American Indian or Alaska Native: 2%, Asian or Pacific Islander: 2%, Black or African American: 3%, Hispanic or Latino: 24%, White: 69%. RESULTS: After implementing best classroom practices with Accelerated Reader, Stanford 9 (SAT-9) reading scores increased 10.5 percentile points in 2 years. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Jane Weber, reading specialist and School Renaissance coordinator. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R40701>.

DETAILS: School Profile: 506 students in grades K-5; Demographics: Rural, Title I, Mobility: 1015%, ESL: 23%, Free/reduced lunch: 69%; Minorities: 50%. RESULTS: Since implementing Accelerated Reader with best practices, the achievement gap in reading performance on the North Carolina End of Grade (EOG) Test was reduced by more than 50%; proficiency levels increased by nearly 12 percentage points. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Dr. William Warren, principal. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R36402>.

DETAILS: District Profile: 13,500 students in grades: 3-12; Demographics: Free/reduced lunch: 60%, Limited English proficiency: 9%, Minorities: 55%.RESULTS: In 3 years using Accelerated Reader with best practices, attendance rates increased and the total growth in pass rates on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) for all grades ranged from 12.3 to 23.4 percentage points in every subject, surpassing those for the state. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Suzanne Phelps, director of curriculum development. The report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R11720>.

DETAILS: School Profile: 540 students in grades: Pre-K-2; Demographics: Urban, Title I, Free/reduced lunch: 56%, Mobility: 38.4%; Race/Ethnicity: Black or African American: 30%, White: 70%. RESULTS: After implementing Accelerated Reader with best practices, students demonstrated steady increases in reading over 5 years on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. REPORTING EDUCATORS: Algie J. Jones, principal; Kathy Coody, assistant principal. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R37031>.

DETAILS: Design: Quasi-experimental. RESULTS: The results of a 3-year study indicated that Accelerated Reader was an effective component of reading instruction for at-risk students; at-risk students using Accelerated Reader showed a greater rate of improvement on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills than at-risk students not using the tool. AUTHOR: V.N. Kambarian, Jr. Report available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED461835.pdf>.

DETAILS: Design: Quasi-experimental. RESULTS: This study revealed that secondary English language learners who learned English using Accelerated Reader had higher language and reading comprehension scores than English language learners who used only basal readers. AUTHOR: A. McDurmon. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.

DETAILS: School Profile: 580 students in grades: K-1; Demographics: Suburban, Title I, Free/reduced lunch: 44%, Mobility: 8%; Race/Ethnicity: White: 67%, Black or African American: 30%, Hispanic or Latino: 1%, Other: 1%, Asian or Pacific Islander: 1%. RESULTS: After implementing Accelerated Reader with best practices for 8 months, 1st graders gained 38 percentile points on the Star Reading test. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Charlotte Whetstone, principal. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R11785>.

The purpose of this paper was to determine if the Mississippi schools that certified as either Model Accelerated Reader School or Master Accelerated Reader School (in the 2000-2001 school year) scored higher than the state average on the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) that was administered in spring 2001. This study found that the majority of schools that had certified as Accelerated Reader Model and Master Schools did score above the Mississippi mean on the MCT reading scaled score given in the spring of 2001. The study also showed that all Accelerated Reader certified schools had more than 50% of students reading at or above grade level. The percentages of students reading at Proficient or Advanced for the majority of Accelerated Reader certified schools were higher than the Mississippi average. Most of the Accelerated Reader certified schools also scored above the Mississippi mean in language. The language scores of the Accelerated Reader Model and Master certified Schools, however, were not as high as the reading scores. The majority of the studied schools also scored above the state's mathematics scaled score mean. AUTHOR: C. Harper.Citation: Harper, C. (2001). A study of Accelerated Reader Model and Master Schools and performance on the Mississippi Curriculum Reference Test. Unpublished manuscript, University of Southern Mississippi.Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.