Good intentions, poor results

I'm sure our school had great intentions when it purchased the Accelerated Reader program several years ago. Many educators swear by this program but the more I become familiar with how it works, the more disgusted I am by it.

The gist of this program is that kids can read a book, answer some comprehension questions on the computer and then receive points based on the number of questions answered correctly. The kids set a goal at the beginning of the year based on how many points they think they can get over the year, and everything is then tracked on the computer. The books are generally books that can be found in any library, so it's not like a school would have to purchase a particular series of books.

In theory, this is a wonderful idea. Teachers can easily track their students' reading to see how often they are reading and how well they're understanding the text. Kids get to see their progress as well, and have some control over their learning. Maybe it's just how our school is running it, but I have some real problems with relying on this program as heavily as our school does.

As a learning resource teacher, I have encountered some kids who get quite upset when the books I want them to read with me are not AR books. As soon as I introduce a new book, I can almost guarantee the first question out of some students' mouths are, "Will I get points for this?" If they can't, they almost instantly lose interest in the book. It's then tough for me to get these students interested in reading the book at all.

What bothers me even more, though, is that all of these points can be redeemed for insanely incredible prizes at the end of the year. I realize it sounds quite harsh, but I'm not sure that the prizes we give out are appropriate. I think a smaller prize where everyone who has hit a certain percentage of their goal is fine, but the expensive prizes given out are a little extreme. Thankfully the kindergartens don't have anything to do with AR (they begin in grade 1) so I don't either.

To me, it perpetuates the attitude that everything they read should be for AR points so they can get a prize. Whatever happened to intrinsic motivation? Nowadays it seems like kids need to be rewarded for everything in order for them to do what their responsibility as children and students is anyway.

I'm not completely bashing the AR program. It does have its benefits, but our school (and I'm sure a lot more) should reevaluate how it uses this program. I really believe the kids are reading for all the wrong purposes.

On a different note, check out "my boyfriend's" (his words, not mine) blog. George Strombolopolous is my new favourite tv personality. I try to go to bed so early every night, but that damn show "The Hour" is on at 11:00 every night on CBC and it sucks me in every time. Anyway, just wanted to recommend the show to you.