This school year, Accelerated Reader is moving on from Average Book Level recommendations to a new reading range model.
The reading range is the range of text difficulty that provides the student with an appropriate amount of challenge when reading independently. Students see the greatest gains when reading with comprehension within or above this range. Accelerated Reader allows you to choose to display reading ranges using one of two metrics, ATOS or Lexile® measures.
With this new feature, you can use Accelerated Reader to:
- Set and manage students’ reading ranges for English and Spanish separately
- View the percentage of students’ reading done within, above, or below their set reading range(s)
- Ensure students always have the most accurate range right in front of them, eliminating the need to manually track adjusted reading ranges in spreadsheets or reading logs
Managing and viewing a student’s reading range
You can set and manage reading ranges in the Accelerated Reader Record Book. This is also where you’ll see each student’s reading classified within, below, or above their range (as shown below). Students will see the reading ranges set for them on their progress page, as well as when discovering books within Accelerated Reader.
Why we’re moving to reading range
Our goal is to make AR metrics easy to understand and actionable for students. Students, particularly those in elementary school, have a hard time understanding averages and how their book selections can impact their Average Book Level rating. This change was necessary to better align Accelerated Reader with the conversations happening in classrooms and to help students take ownership of their own learning.
Continuing to use Average Book Level
The Average Book Level metric will continue to be available to educators on reports and when setting a student’s reading range. For the 2022–2023 school year, the classroom-level goal model preference will allow you to switch back to using Average Book Level goals if you would like. We understand that shifting your program to this new model might take some time, so we wanted to give you a year to transition to the reading range model.
Learn more about reading range
For more information about reading range in Accelerated Reader, see these resources: