Questions Teachers Asked about Each Step

Although the principal had requested that they talk about benchmarks and observations on how well they were implementing the AR program, the teachers used the discussion as an opportunity to raise significant questions about the program.

Questions about Step 1

• Why are many of our students choosing not to read books?
• I want to help my students gain a life-long love of reading, but lately many of them only want to select a book to read that will give them lots of points. After one of my students selected a book in the library, another one said, “I'd never pick a book like that -- it's not worth enough points.” [The teacher is referring here to the point value assigned to AR books (e.g., Charlotte's Web is worth 5 points, The Secret Garden 14, Little Women 36, and Moby Dick 47), a process explained in Topping's commentary.] Are children missing out on some good literature in the name of points?

Questions about Step 2

• For the kids who are reading books, how can we be sure that they are using higher order thinking skills when they read? It seems that the AR program assumes that reading books at the “right” reading level is enough, but I wonder about that.
• Some AR guidelines suggest allowing for 60 minutes of silent reading -- but something's got to give. I'm not teaching reading anymore because there's just not enough time to do it all, but I feel I have to support our AR investment. How much time should I devote to students' AR reading?
• I can't figure out how to make students' reading of AR books a part of my literacy and literary instruction. Should I feel this way? Shouldn't more instruction related to the books be going on, or at least shouldn't we be talking about the books?... You know, having those grand conversations? AR seems to think that children will just somehow magically improve as readers by reading, but many of my students seem to need much more help and don't seem to just improve by trying to read more books. These aren't kids who've been flagged in a report as at risk, either.

Questions about Step 3

• Can we make better use of our classroom computers for literacy instruction?
• Is every teacher using AR reports? How?
• Are we preparing our students to score higher on reading in standardized tests?
• Many of my students just seem to be reading at a surface level. Is this because the AR quizzes ask surface-level questions?

Questions about Step 4

• Is every student in our school involved in AR and in earning points and awards? After all, our parent-teacher association budgets $2,000 a year for rewards and prizes to encourage children to meet yearly goals, and we owe it to those hardworking parents to make sure that each child is involved and bringing home evidence in the form of some prizes once in a while.
• What is the real role of motivation? I have some really low [ability level] students who are trying to read for the first time ever. They're struggling, but at least they're trying. Is that motivation? I feel bad for them sometimes because they can't read the books that are worth a lot of points, like their classmates do.
• I feel a little uncomfortable about giving out so many rewards, but if we're not supposed to use so many external-type rewards, why does the program provide so many of them for purchase?
• Some students are sharing answers with others who haven't read the books so they can pass tests. Some students watch others take the exams on the computer screen and then immediately take the tests. Why are they cheating like this?

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Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted November 1999
© 1999-2000 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232