In the classroom, children could use a variety of programs to enhance their curriculum and help them gain mastery of important concepts. School districts might use computer-based literacy programs to measure reading ability or complement the reading curriculum.

Parents might also use reading programs at home to help a child who struggles with reading, encourage daily reading habits or even to help children gain confidence. Are literacy programs for elementary schools compatible with at-home reading programs?

Districts Might Use a Variety of Programs

Not all school districts might use the same literacy program in the classroom. Some schools or school districts might use several different programs and each might have a different focus. Here are three common reading programs used in schools:

Star Reading

This program is a computer-based reading assessment that helps instructors (and the school) measure reading progress and to understand a child’s reading level and reading growth. The test is timed, and as children advance through the content, the difficulty increases.

Parents might receive a report that details their child’s scores via Star Reading. Typically, the report includes the child’s reading level, their range, and their reading growth over time.

The report also notes the child’s score as a percentile that relates to other children in the same grade level. For example, a child reading at the 60th percentile reads better than 60 percent of peers in the same grade level.

Star Reading scores could rise or fall related to a child’s concentration or even how they feel. Teachers are looking at patterns and progressive growth. However, Star Reading scores might help schools identify children who are struggling.

Raz-Kids

This program might be used in lower elementary grades to help children learn to read and grow their reading skills. It offers a leveled design, and children advance as they master quizzes for the library of books at each level.

Reading levels in Raz-Kids are denoted by a letter; children move all the way through reading level Z. In addition, Raz-Kids offer program-based rewards to enhance the reading experience.

Accelerated Reading

The program Accelerated Reading is typically referred to as AR. This program is designed to include quizzes for thousands of different books across all grade levels and genres.

These quizzes are designed to measure a student’s comprehension of what they read. For each quiz, students can earn points in the program if they score an appropriate percentage of mastery. Schools might set the program to only award points if a child scores higher than an 80 percent (every school might set this level differently).

Teachers might design a reward system that correlates to AR points. Teachers might offer larger prizes as students accrue more points.

Not every book is included in AR’s library. To find a book and understand if an AR quiz is offered for the book, parents can use the AR Book Finder. This tool lets parents, students and teachers search books by title, author or other criteria.

For every book included in AR, the program offers a book description and details related to the book’s reading level and the AR points that are awarded for the quiz. Longer more complex books earn children more AR points.

Finding At-Home Programs that are Compatible with Literacy Programs for Elementary Schools

While many schools use Raz-Kids to help guide reading in lower elementary grades, this program doesn’t necessarily need to be compatible with home-based reading programs. Raz-Kids is designed to help children learn to read.

At-home programs might feature a similar design. However, at-home programs that are designed differently than Raz-Kids shouldn’t interfere with how children learn via the classroom program. Children might simply enjoy using two separate reading programs to help gain proficiency and confidence.

Star Reading is designed to measure progress and to help teachers and the school understand a child’s reading ability. At-home programs might help children feel more confident taking Star, but Star Reading isn’t focused on teaching children how to read; instead, it’s designed to measure progress and growth.

The only reading program that’s used in the classroom that might impact an at-home reading program is Accelerated Reader. This program allows children to take comprehension quizzes and earn points when they score well; since this program is sometimes tied to rewards in the classroom, children might only want to read books that are compatible with AR.

Many reading programs used at home require children to read books as part of the lesson. In fact, Readability is designed to have children read books aloud; at each reading level, Readability includes a library of books.

Children read these stories aloud, and a built-in AI tutor is designed to understand the child’s voice and provides help when the tutor identifies struggles. In addition, the tutor also asks the child questions at the end of each book to measure their understanding.

Readability includes similar quizzes like those offered in AR, but books in Readability also are featured in AR’s library. This means that when children finish a book in Readability, they can take an AR quiz in the classroom to earn points.

Reading programs at home should count towards a child’s nightly reading minutes (which are typically assigned by the school). However, using a reading program at home shouldn’t mean that the child loses an opportunity to earn AR points.

Are All Reading Programs Compatible with Accelerated Reader?

Parents might wonder if all at-home reading programs or apps are all compatible with Accelerated Reader. Can students read books in every reading program and take AR quizzes?

The answer really depends on the program and its offerings. It also might depend on how the program is designed. Not all reading programs or apps include the same lesson-based design.

To understand if books included within a reading app are compatible or available via Accelerated Reader, parents might have to do more research about the program.

Check out the program’s website. If the program is compatible with AR or if it offers books available on Accelerated Reader, the website might note this information.

For many children, earning points on Accelerated Reader might enhance their reading experience and the rewards might encourage them to read more. Some children are more motivated by rewards than other children.

About Readability’s Books

Each reading program offers different reading resources. Readability includes a library of books at each reading level. These books include fiction and nonfiction titles.

Readability also offers high/low books for struggling readers. A high/low book is written at an easier reading level but also is high interest. High/low books are designed so that older children don’t feel that they need to read the same books as much younger readers.

Readability offers books that highlight famous sports heroes and also includes books about new characters, too. Children also can enjoy audiobooks via a new feature in Readability called Storytime; this feature reads to children. Children can read their favorite books in their Readability library and then listen to the story with Storytime.

Every book also includes details about the book’s Accelerated Reader points. Children cannot take an AR quiz in Readability, but parents should help children keep track of the books they read in the program to ensure that they remember to take their AR quiz at school to earn their points.

Parents interested in exploring Readability with their children can sign up for a free seven-day trial to explore all the features, introduce children to the AI tutor and review AR points for books, too.