Reading motivation and progress through Accelerated Reader: An action research project

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the Accelerated Reader on students' reading achievement. Our school purchased a subscription from the Renaissance Company for the Accelerated Reader program for the school year 2007-2008. An elementary class and a junior high English class were used as the experimental groups. I used a middle elementary grade as my control group because they were not using the Accelerated Reader program and not required to do after school reading. Students in the study completed pre-and post-study Motivation for Reading surveys. Data was gathered on all the students' reading abilities based on standardized test scores. I conducted teacher interviews and surveys to discover how the Accelerated Reader program would be implemented in each class. The standardized test results of the elementary experimental group showed growth in all reading quartiles. The English class spring 2008 standardized test results showed higher reading growth in the high reading quartile. All groups had some increased positive attitudes toward reading. The experimental group's attitude change may be due to reading books at their level as defined by the Accelerated Reader program and to experiencing success on the program's quizzes after reading. On the Motivation for Reading surveys, some of the English experimental group students indicated that they were more motivated to read because of the Accelerated Reader program.