Review by Patricia Monticello Kievlan, Common Sense Education | Updated June 2016
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Accelerated Reader 360

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Boundless, flexible tools promote instructional, independent reading

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
  • English Language Learning
Skills
  • Character & SEL
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
3–12
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (6 Reviews)
Price:  Contact for pricing Pricing is not transparent, and purchases are targeted at the school or district level. Interested parties must call or go to the website to live chat with a sales rep.
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

5 images
Students can browse a sprawling range of nonfiction content on tons of topics.
Great visual style makes it easy for kids to browse nonfiction articles. Some free e-books are also available.
Students take comprehension quizzes for each book they read; teachers can tweak the testing experience and review detailed results.
Teachers and students can get oriented through great help text on the developer's website.
Teachers can review their students' progress at a glance.

Pros: Great teacher tools track progress with great visuals in real time; built-in texts make for especially easy use.

Cons: Quizzes may take the joy out of independent reading, especially for struggling readers.

Bottom Line: A stellar literacy platform for assessing student reading levels and promoting further reading.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Use Accelerated Reader 360 as your main tool for tracking your students' independent reading. Have students regularly track the books they're reading for fun with the app. Be sure to help your students set reasonable reading goals (like advancing their reading level or reading a certain number of books in a month) and show them how the app can help them track their progress.

You can also use this tool as your go-to tool for assigning nonfiction texts to your students. Require them to complete the activities and quizzes, either as graded practice or for participation credit in your class.

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Standards:

Accelerated Reader 360 is an e-reader platform (with an iOS app version) that helps students develop their independent reading and instructional reading skills. This product now features tools that were previously part of other tools created and acquired by developer Renaissance Learning, including AR 360, Accelerated Reader, and Subtext. Those products' features are now part of a single streamlined Accelerated Reader 360 experience. This tool can help teachers understand their students' reading levels and recommend appropriate texts for each user's always-updating "Discovery Bookshelf." Students can browse texts and gauge their own reading progress through their dashboard. Meanwhile, teachers get detailed reports about students' progress, and they can use this data to assign different texts to their students, or to strategically target instruction or assignments in the classroom.

Accelerated Reader doesn't always include the texts themselves; instead, it's designed to be a tracking system for students' reading and a way to offer quizzes on comprehension. Students can set their own reading goals, input a fiction or nonfiction book they've just completed, then take a built-in quiz, and their resulting score helps determine their current reading score (using Lexile measures and the developer's proprietary ATOS measurement system). Meanwhile, the AR 360 app focuses on "instructional reading" skills using informational texts. There are also full-text versions of tons of instructional and informational texts available, including a variety of nonfiction texts and news topics. Each of these texts includes instructional skills practice (like writing prompts) and a built-in quiz.

If you're a fan of Subtext, you'll recognize a lot of its best features in Accelerated Reader 360. Renaissance Learning acquired Subtext and thoughtfully integrated the best features from its many products into a single, powerful literacy platform. There's an embarrassment of riches here: There are comprehension assessments for more than 170,000 titles and counting, a spectacular amount of data available for every student's performance, and a ton of info about how to get started with the tools and make them work in the classroom. Compared with other literacy platforms (like Lightsail or StudySync, for example), Accelerated Reader stands out for not including all of its referenced and covered texts as part of an e-reading experience. It's refreshing for a digital tool to expect many students to still be reading non-digital books. That's not to say there's not a good digital reading experience; that's here too, and there are some some spectacular features included, many of which are a great fit for the Common Core-aligned classroom. 

The one real limitation for Accelerated Reader 360 may be its potential to promote individual reading practice. Fluent, enthusiastic readers will be thrilled, since it's fun to take a quiz on a book you loved, especially when you know you'll ace it. Less confident readers, however, may resist the quiz requirement. If students are already reluctant to take quizzes at school, then bringing quizzes to independent reading may not always foster positive feelings of achievement or accomplishment. If students know a comprehension quiz awaits, it's possible that they might not completely buy into the pleasure of independent reading in this scenario. Adding some more in the way of social features -- like the ability to interact with classmates via social annotation or reflection, or the ability to share recent reads -- might be helpful ways to further engage and encourage skeptical readers. Nevertheless, this is a spectacular system for determining students' reading levels and helping them grow.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Some kids might balk at taking quizzes on books they've read for fun, but the great design and instant feedback are compelling reasons to keep reading and searching for the next book.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Well-designed quizzes and activities demand meaningful reflection and challenge kids to develop their reading skills. Terrific reports and interface help teachers tailor instruction especially for each student's needs.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Great built-in tours, online instructional videos, and a lively user community make for a supportive, intuitive experience.

Common Sense Reviewer
Patricia Monticello Kievlan Foundation/nonprofit member
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.3.1

    Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

  • RI.3.2

    Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

  • RI.3.8

    Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

  • RI.3.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.4.1

    Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

  • RI.4.2

    Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

  • RI.4.8

    Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

  • RI.4.10

    By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.5.1

    Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

  • RI.5.2

    Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

  • RI.5.8

    Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).

  • RI.5.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.6.1

    Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.6.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

  • RI.6.8

    Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

  • RI.6.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.7.1

    Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.7.2

    Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.7.8

    Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

  • RI.7.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.8.1

    Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.8.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.8.8

    Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

  • RI.8.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.9-10.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.9-10.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.9-10.8

    Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

  • RI.9-10.10

    By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9–10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.11-12.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

  • RI.11-12.2

    Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.11-12.10

    By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 6 reviews) (6 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Suzanne G. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Juan De Anza Elementary School
Hawthorne, United States
Gives good information
Overall, this is a good peripheral way of getting students to read on a daily basis. Students can track their reading level throughout the year and parents have a numerical way of demonstrating achievement and needed remediation on an ongoing basis. But for students who do not like to read, it lacks personality. I also felt the quiz questions were more literal and less inferential. Overall, this is a great tool for students to track their own reading successes. I would highly recommend this software.
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