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John Blackard, Media Specialist
Liberty School, Randolph County, NC
blackard@asheboro.com

Colleagues,

I received quite a few responses from you who believe that EBS is worth
the extra money. I'm impressed with the reasons stated. Maybe you will
be as well.

The HIT follows:

Colleagues,

Is Electronic Bookshelf so much better than Accelerated Reader that it
justifies almost twice the money?

I am media specialist at a K-5 school, and we are comparing the two
programs.

> WITHOUT A DOUBT-----YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> When you look at the features it has to offer for the teachers plus
> the fact that the process for testing is so superior, there is no
> question which program you will decide upon.  That is IMHO.
>

> We recently studied EBS and AR, going to schools which had the programs.
> EBS was the clear winner. We wanted to be able to modify the tests for
> special needs students, which EBS allowed,  and particularly wanted more
> variance in the tests than AR gives.  There are 15 tests per disk, BUT each
> test has 30 questions rather than AR's ten. That factor sold us.
>
> As a librarian, I liked the quality of EBS books better. I felt that some
> AR books had been written for the program.

> having used both programs, I can honestly say NO!
> The differences do not justify the price.
>
> My school had EB when I came 4 years ago and it was not being widely used
> because it was the old Apple II version and they had only a couple of
> computers they could test on.  It took forever to get a class done.
>
> With our school network available, I spoke with a colleague at another
> middle school in our county about what she did.  She traded her EB program
> and title disks for the AR program because tech support for EB on the
> network was not at all good.  She got a great deal from AR and says her
> tech support with the program has been super...and SHE was a personal
> friend/acquaintance of the person who developed EB and was a long-time
> user of the program.
>
> I followed her lead, switched my disks with the AR company, installed the
> program on the school network and am in the process of identifying all my
> titles with spine labels so we can do a big kick-off next fall.

> How do you find it to be twice the money?  Are you buying one stand alone or
> a network version?  I am in the process of purchasing EBS and did not think
> it was double.  The Value Pak disks, and the fact that they will replace
> tests on books that go out of print is a real plus.

> I can't say much about the AR program, but we have had EB at our school
> prior to my arrival 5 years ago. Our tech support for EB is fabulous! EB
> has the advantage of a variety of questions for each book interview. Our
> students are quite bright and would easily memorize all the answers if
> the questions were not rotated. We have been very pleased with the
> service,the quality of books provided by the EB system, the flexibility
> of reporting data to teachers, etc.,etc., etc. We would highly recommend
> EB to anyone!
>
> Our students are in grades 7 - 12.

> EBS is that much better than AR, but the good news is that EBS doesn't cost any 
>more than AR.  How are you calculating the two?  There is a web-site at 
>http://www.electronic-school.com/0198f3.html that compares EBS, AR, and That's 
>Fact Jack.  It puts the program cost as just about the same.
> ---

> in my opinion it is worth more; the books arevary well chosen, and
> the students get more than one chance to take the test, with the questions
> being randomized so that noone can memorize them.  It actually does teach
> students to read for detail so it is a real teaching tool rather than a
> testing one. We are using it in lots of our ninth and tenth grade classes
> and it is a great improvement on boring (and cheat-able) book reports.

> You probably don't want to hear an old English teacher rant about
> programmed instruction, but consider yourself warned.
>
> IMHO, any professional educator who relies on a prescribed reading list
> simply because they've purchased a computer program that tests whether a
> kid read the books or not INSTEAD OF using the skills s/he (I hope)
> picked up in college to make these decisions for themselves . . . has
> spent four  + years and thousands of dollars preparing themselves for
> the wrong career.  I apologize for ranting so, but REALLY!  I would
> bristle if someone told me that I had to stock this list of books in my
> library, or push these books in my classroom.  Big Brother does not know
> better than I do what my children need to become better readers.  A
> computer program will never replace caring interaction between a teacher
> and a student.
>
> So, in answer to the question you posted (and now you're probably
> regretting having posted it, but really, I have nothing personal against
> you or your school--I'm just the messenger with bad news!) I would say
> that Accelerated Reader and Electronic Bookshelf are just evil twins.  I
> refuse to go so far as to say they  are designed for lazy or unmotivated
> teachers.  However, I know personally of several teachers who have as
> much as said how much easier reading is now that they don't have to do
> anything!
>
> Okay, I'll quit now.  But do encourage your staff to remember the
> ultimate objective:  what is truly best for the KIDS?

> Kids can quickly learn that they can "cheat" by getting anwers from their
> friends who've read the books because AR gives identical questions every
> time that title is tested. EBS draws from a pool of 30 questions per title,
> so each test is different. Bottom line: How honest are your kids?
>
> (I've been told that) AR selects titles not only on literary merit or
> student interest, but because they have agreements with publishers to sell
> particular titles whether they are of quality or not. EBS (I've been told)
> DOES NOT make a deal with publishers on particular titles, instead they
> select the titles they create tests for based on the merits of the book.
>
> My advice: compare titles and see if there is a difference in the "quality"
> of the titles on the discs you'd be purchasing, now and in the future. If
> the list includes a lot of "trendy" titles that won't be popular (Goosebumps
> are on their way out, for example) in a few years, this may be of concern
> for you.
>
> Just for the record, I went with EBS.

> AR may have more tests on a disk, but my experience has been that you =
> can't locate about half of the titles.  I think Electronic Bookshelf =
> replaces a title on their disks when it is no longer available. They =
> also draw from a pool of 30 questions to use on tests where AR moves =
> around the 10 or so they have. I also like the fact that EBS allows a =
> child to take a test more than once (remember it will not be the same =
> test).

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