Likelihood to Recommend I have found Renaissance Accelerated Reader to be well-suited for elementary readers. I don't have experience using it with high school students; however, I know that for our elementary readers, there are no shortages of tests available. Our students can read trade books, articles within the program, or even stories from our textbooks and take tests on them
Read full review As I described, [WonScore Pre-Employment Testing (formerly Wonderlic Employee & Customer Surveys)] is very useful in screening candidates for smarts, motivation, and personality quirks. Wouldn't interview candidate without it now
Read full review Pros Automatically calculating ZPD ranges. Student level ranges are automatically calculated within the system to ensure that students are correctly choosing the most appropriate books for them. Easy goal setting. Whether you want to set a blanket goal based on 20 minutes per day of reading time for the class, or you want to individually set goals up to an hour a day, AR makes it very easy to manage and set goals for your entire classroom. Goals can be adjusted as needed easily as well. Comprehension monitoring through testing. I can easily see which students are struggling on comprehension through AR book quizzes. From student scores, I can either motivate students who are rushing through books to slow down and take time to thoroughly read, or I can help students who are possibly struggling to read harder books with specific strategies that will benefit them the most. Without the testing feature of AR, I would have a lot more work to check how students are doing on their independent reading. Data that is easy to understand and share with students. From either running a report on the entire class or school to just a specific student, AR makes data tracking easy. I can share reports with students and have detailed discussions about their progress towards meeting their goals or steps to take to overcome reading challenges they are currently having. Read full review Easy to administer Valid, reliable results - Backed by rigorous science Great "bang for the buck" - lots of good information in one place! Read full review Cons Lately, Accelerated Reader has been adding "New Reports" which would help single class users such as a teacher with one class. But for a person with administrative rights, it creates a bit of a hassle to get the information needed at times. Cost - Accelerated Reader is expensive. For the price paid, I feel Renaissance should include some features instead of having additional fees paid. Read full review A cold beer tap A turkey pot pie A little red wagon In all seriousness, after trying in earnest, I can't think of anything Read full review Likelihood to Renew [Renaissance] Accelerated Reader is a great way to track student progress, motivate students to read, and measure their comprehension. Accelerated reader gives both teachers and students immediate feedback. There are countless options of books for students and can help increase student interest in books and improve students' reading ability.
Read full review Usability I would say that Accelerated Reader is a pretty user-friendly tool. The platform is easily used by teachers, administrators, and students of all grade levels and technical abilities. That being said, it would be nice to see some tweaks to the user interface to make it even easier for everyone to navigate.
Read full review Extremely easy to use. I maintain a candidate spreadsheet for backup and entering a new candidate takes only a minute or less. System notifies me when candidate completes assessment as well as when a candidate scores strongly. Seamlessly integrated into my existing candidate procurement method.
Read full review Reliability and Availability I have not encountered any problems with availability
Read full review Performance Quick loading, no issues.
Read full review Support Rating Renaissance Accelerated Reader is a program I have used with students for 9 years. It is so flexible and easy to use! I have seen the amazing benefits and an increase in the minutes my students read each day. I look forward to using this program next year and learning more about how it can help increase reading in our school.
Read full review I really never had to use support - maybe only a few times in more than 5 years. Any interaction I had was positive, solutions were immediate, responses were well crafted and easy to follow. The software really is fairly intuitive. Any issues that came up were easy to resolve in a quick, easy, pleasant conversation!
Read full review Implementation Rating Extensive training on Ren Place is necessary. There are a myriad of reports that we need help understanding. I have joined Ren Royals and have learned a lot from that support piece.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I have not used any of the products listed. However, AR has been my choice of product. My school system choice this product because it interfaces well with all other reading and testing programs that have been purchased. It is an excellent product, but that is a given since it was developed by a teacher to address a problem that all educators deal with (How do you help a struggling reader best?). AR is the answer for me.
Read full review I have used Personnel Survey & Research Group tool (PSR), DISC, and Predictive Index (PI). None of them offer the balance of accuracy, valuable insights, and speed to results. The DISC system seems to be a simulation of the Predictive Index. The PI is the closest tool I have used to the value of WonScore. However, the WonScore Pre-Employment Testing gives a MUCH more valuable set of insights.
Read full review Scalability Because students can take tests on varying book levels.
Read full review Return on Investment The goal of AR is for kids to enjoy books, spread their wings, and experience a variety of literature & genres. Children need copious amounts of reading to become good readers. Incorporating Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360 into our day sets a purpose for reading and holds children accountable. Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360 is research based. The single biggest predictor of academic success is time spent reading. This program allows for that. Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360 allows for scaffolding of reading material to get the kids into more challenging material. This program allows children to be successful and build on their strengths. Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360 empowers students to take ownership in the learning process. It gives them a voice. Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360 is a program that lets students practice and apply skills and strategies learned during mini lessons and strategy-group instruction. Read full review Gives us a much better understanding of a candidate's future performance by understanding where they are today. Read full review ScreenShots