Fw: AR and Reading Counts incentive programs

["d.moll" <d.moll@CWIX.COM>]

>
>  Thanks to all who sent information regarding these two programs.  Most of
>the responses were favorable recommendations for Scholastic's Reading
Counts
>(formerly Electronic Bookshelf).
>
>The one thing just about everyone mentioned as a positive feature of the
>Reading Counts program was the bank of 30 questions used when preparing the
>tests.  This gives the student an opportunity to retake the test with
>different questions.  If also cuts down on cheating as students can pass
>questions on to others but there is no guarantee that the receiver will get
>those questions when they take the test.  AR uses the same 10 or 20
>questions with only the answers in a different order.
>
>You can determine the number correct answers needed for a passing score for
>individual tests, the whole class or the entire student population.  This
>feature targets the special needs students.
>
>Site licensing for Reading Counts software is based on the number of
>computers it is loaded on and not the number of students that will be using
>the program.
>
>Teachers can sort titles in the database using selected criteria such as
>reading level, interest level, comprehension skills (phonics, inference,
>cause and effect, etc.), genre, award winners, etc. and then recommend
>appropriate titles for the students.
>
>You can make up an unlimited amount of tests but each test must have 30
>questions for the question bank.
>
>The Reading Counts format is more attractive to children.  It has nice
>visual graphics for passing tests as well as giving students the
opportunity
>to rate the selection they have read.
>
>Reading Counts is now affiliated with Econo-Clad.  They will provide
barcode
>labels, MARC records, etc.
>
>Scholastic offers technical support for the program.  (There was no mention
>as to how good this service is.)
>
>Someone recently mentioned the Lexile Framework feature that Scholastic has
>included with this program.  Yes, you must use a test correlated to the
>Lexile Framework to be able to use this feature but you can use the program
>without using the Lexile Framework.  Scholastic of course offers the test
>but it has a pretty high price tag based on the number of students you want
>to test and I'm not sure how often the test can be used.  Reading Counts
>does provide grade levels for each selection but they are not broken down
as
>much as the AR program.  RC has 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, etc. while AR gives you
>selections coded 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, etc.
>
>
>I hope this helps those of you trying to decide which program to use.  It
>made our decision easier.
>
>
>Dorrie Moll                     Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it
>sounds?
>Title I                               Poor spellers of the world untie! :-)
>Hampton Elementary
>Hampton, GA 30281
>d.moll@cwix.com
>

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