Abstract of

How the Accelerated Reader Program Can Become Counterproductive for High School Students

Gail Thompson

Marga Madhuri

Deborah Taylor

Two pressing education reforms entail improving students' reading skills and improving high schools in the United States. In this article, the authors focus on both of these issues by adding the voices of students in an underperforming high school to the discussion about reading reform. We present the results of a larger study pertaining specifically to the views of students who participated in eight focus groups, in which students questioned the implementation of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program. There were five reasons that students did not like the program's implementation and claimed that it did not increase their motivation to read, making AR counterproductive. The results suggest that reading reform strategies that may work at the elementary level may not be as effective for adolescents, and that in order for true high school and reading reform to occur, the views and unique needs of older students must be examined and taken more seriously.

Abstract from Thompson, G., Madhuri, M., & Taylor, D. (2008, April). How the Accelerated Reader Program Can Become Counterproductive for High School Students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(7), 550–560. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.51.7.3