A student who uses the AR program must first select a book at his or her level from our school's Media Center that is labeled AR. There are more than 25,000 titles to choose from. Each AR book is assigned a point value based on the number of words it contains and its reading difficulty. Students select their own books and read at their own pace. In addition, teachers may choose to allow students to take tests on books that are read to and with them. After reading the book (at least twice), the student goes to a computer and takes a multiple-choice comprehension test on the book's content. Tests may have 5, 10, or 20 items, depending on the length and difficulty of the book. The computer scores the test, awards the student points based on the results, and keeps a complete record. For a book valued at 10 AR points, a student would receive 10 points for a score of 100 percent, 9 points for 90 percent, and so on. However, the student must score at least 60 percent on the test to earn any points at all. Further, the software designers recommend that teachers target 85 percent as being optimal for students.

All types of student reading are monitored with this program, including guided, paired, literature-based, and textbook reading. Accelerated Reader provides teachers with assessment information to help them motivate reading in the classrooms, monitor progress, and target instruction to accelerate reading growth. Teachers can get easy-to-read reports on the reading level and comprehension skills of each student to guide instruction and help the student select more appropriate reading materials.