[LM_NET] HIT and SHARE: AR and grades

["Brown, Linda" <lbrown@JONESVILLESCHOOLS.ORG>]

Hi All,

 

Thank you to everyone who responded (or might still respond) about AR
and grades in your school.  The variety of ways in which the program is
used is incredible.  There was about a 50 - 50 split from elementary
schools and middle schools. Most of the high school respondents' schools
said yes.  

 

At the high school level, the intrinsic or external rewards no longer
seem to be incentive enough to get kids to read, so a grade has become
the incentive.  Many high schools also said their use of the program was
to meet, in some way, state reading guidelines/standards.

 

There was a wide variety of ways in which the program is used (or not)
in middle and elementary schools.  Some don't allow grades at all but
use the system for "extra earning opportunities", some required it as
the sole reading grade (there was a lot of objection to that practice),
and many used it as a portion of the reading grade.  Those who are
opposed to using AR for a grade seemed to feel very strongly about that
and had myriad reasons for their position.

 

In schools that do grade, the formula for calculating grades differed
widely.  Some schools use the points earned, some use a percentage of a
goal earned, some use a number of books passed, etc.  Most that do use
AR as a grade it said that it's a portion of a grade.  Many felt that
the "portion" was too high (at 30% or more of the grade).  It seemed
that people who weren't necessarily opposed to a grade were most
comfortable with the scores being used as five percent to 10 percent of
a grade.  

 

Anyway, thank you all for your input. I really appreciated the rationale
as to why your school does or does not allow AR to be used for a grade,
and I enjoyed reading about the different ways the program is used in
your school.

 

Sincerely,

 

Linda Brown

Teacher/Librarian

Jonesville (MI) High School

lbrown@jonesvilleschools.org


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