McGraw-Hill offers ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces), an assessment software platform providing a range of testing tools and standard or best-practice tests for subjects in primary and secondary education, as well as higher ed and homeschooling.
$19.95
per term
Renaissance Accelerated Reader
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Renaissance Accelerated Reader® is designed to save educators time by empowering them with Learnalytics® to make differentiating independent and close reading practice effortless – all while maintaining the flexibility necessary to fit within existing classroom routines. Students are engaged in reading self-selected authentic books and articles.
Short comprehension quizzes and built-in close reading practice activities, combined with automatic and educator feedback, keep students…
Among the specific scenarios where ALEKS is well suited would be independent work time during which each student could work on improving foundational math skills or on practicing topics recently learned in class. ALEKS is less appropriate when instructing more involved topics (i.e., Algebra 2 material), which would require whole-class instruction by the teacher first.
I have found Renaissance Accelerated Reader to be well-suited for elementary readers. I don't have experience using it with high school students; however, I know that for our elementary readers, there are no shortages of tests available. Our students can read trade books, articles within the program, or even stories from our textbooks and take tests on them
If used correctly, Accelerated Reader helps students grow with their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. I advise teachers to have one on one conversations with students when setting goals (allow students to have input) so that the students are given more responsibility to achieve their own goals.
Renaissance's online chat/customer service is outstanding. They can usually answer my questions and do so in an understandable manner. They seem to be willing to help and will follow through if necessary.
There are many reports that Accelerated Reader administrators can use to help decipher the data created from their students taking Accelerated Reader quizzes.
Creating Spanish reports similar to the ones accessed in English.
Simplifying the way books students can find an AR quiz. It does not find books if students are missing a "question mark" or "exclamation mark".
Deleting a quiz when a student enters the wrong book title and begins a quiz. It has been difficult to remove a quiz and the quiz appears even after the monitor password has been entered.
[Renaissance] Accelerated Reader is a great way to track student progress, motivate students to read, and measure their comprehension. Accelerated reader gives both teachers and students immediate feedback. There are countless options of books for students and can help increase student interest in books and improve students' reading ability.
I give Renaissance Accelerated Reader a great 10 in usability rating. I give this rating because overall the program is very easy to use and for the most part easy to understand. I am currently in my first year working in the library and with the teachers using the Renaissance Accelerated Reader program so there is still much to learn, but it has been an overall great experience so far. All of the data is easy to read and there is so much information to look over in case anything is missed or not understood. I have so far been very happy with the Renaissance Accelerated Reader program and what it has done for the students.
We did not need much support because installing and running ALEKS on Schoology was relatively easy; the department followed the steps outlined in the user manual on how to install ALEKS and were able to do so quickly. ALEKS help team has been helpful, but overall we did not need their help.
Renaissance Reader has a great support team, and generally, they are quick to respond when needed. The live chat tool is a life-saver when trying to get your problems solved in real-time. They also have a lot of online support articles that ensure that you can get your questions answered without necessarily having to use the live chat during the school day.
Extensive training on Ren Place is necessary. There are a myriad of reports that we need help understanding. I have joined Ren Royals and have learned a lot from that support piece.
I was not able to find any other products on your list, that I feel are really like ALEKS. I think of ALEKS as more of a teaching platform whereas other platforms I have used--MyMathLab, WebAssign, Knewton--are more of a homework platform.
STAR assessments work well with [Renaissance] Accelerated Reader. The STAR assessment can inform students what material they will be able to comprehend and help guide teachers when they are trying to help students find books to read. STAR assessments also help teachers focus on comprehension and vocabulary skills which then lends to help students understand what they are reading and utilize [Renaissance] Accelerated Reader.
