Maintaining a Healthy Literacy Environment When Adopting Accelerated Reading Programs

The implementation of accelerated reading programs in pre-k and kindergarten classrooms is a direct result of the No Child Left Behind era. It was believed that by employing these programs at such an early age, educators were combating the literacy deficits that plagued some students later in their primary years. In her article Accelerating Reading Inequalities in the Early Years, Mariana Souto-Manning explains that “reading ability is defined by a computer software program and not by a teacher – the child takes a computerized multiple-choice test that claims to assess comprehension.” Another sticking point of the Accelerated Reader program is the methods that must be used to appropriately incorporate the program into the curriculum. Educators must “allocate a minimum amount of time for children to read, forbid them to read outside their level, praise them only when they took the test and received a score of 80% or greater, etc.” It is hard to imagine that this program, or similar programs, has the children’s best interest in mind.

Though her school had adopted the Accelerated Reader program, Souto-Manning describes her classroom’s journey that culminated in finding “wiggle room” in the program. While the program tends to oversimplify reading development, her students found ways to incorporate more meaningful literacy practices into a very structured environment. The best part of the possibilities that Souto-Manning found within the limitations of the Accelerated Reader program is that she worked with her students to find ways that they could still enjoy reading in the classroom. Her students voiced their opinions by deciding that the program limited their book choices and unfairly segmented them into reading level groups. The students also noticed that some students were enjoying privileges that other students would never achieve.

Souto-Manning and her second-grade classroom decided to take action and return some of the freedom that the Accelerated Reader program had taken from them. First they involved parents in fundraising efforts that would be used to purchase books the children actually enjoyed reading. Next, the class removed their Accelerated Reader points from the hallway and decided to keep track of points as a class, so that they could host their own classroom parties as they achieved certain point levels. This created a classroom environment that valued collaboration instead of individualism. Also, Souto-Manning began checking out books from the school library that her students were excited about reading and including them in the classroom library. The Accelerated Reader program did not allow students to check out books that were not on their level, so having all types of levels present in the classroom library was very important for her students.

This article is a prime example of an educator that is invested in the education of her students. She was willing to work with her students to supplement their literacy education tools and turn the classroom into a more inclusive learning environment. This level of compassion is what the education system needs to ensure that our children are not only scoring well on computerized tests, but also truly enjoying their learning experience.