Accelerated Reader 

What is Renaissance Accelerated Reader (AR)?

AR is a reading program that helps teachers support and monitor children’s reading practice. We utilise this programme to support reading miles, not as a mode to teach reading but to provide opportunities for children to explore texts for pleasure at home and at school.  Your child picks a book at their own level and reads it at their own pace. When finished, your child takes a short online quiz to measure how much of the book they understood.

What is a Renaissance Star Reading test?

Star Reading is an online test used to measure your child’s reading level. The test uses multiple-choice questions and takes around 20 minutes.

How do children select books?

AR includes over 30,000 books. These can be found in the school library as well as public libraries, books shops, homes, etc. 

Each book is assigned three scores to help your child make a suitable choice: 

Book Level- Book Levels represent the difficulty of the text.

The Star Reading test tells your child what range of Book Levels to read within. This is called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

Points Books are assigned Points based on their word count. Points are earned by passing quizzes. Students are set personalised targets each term by their teacher.

Interest Level The Interest Level indicates for which age group a book is suitable for. It does this based on the content and themes. 

How can I help?

As with anything, performance improves with practice.  We provide lots of opportunities for reading in school but you can help by encouraging reading at home too.

Encourage your child to read with you and/or discuss what they have read.  A child may be able to decode and read the words but may not have understood it, so asking questions about the book is important.  Reading with your child, no matter what the age, is an important part of developing good reading skills and a lifelong love of reading.