Accelerated Reader and High School Students' Standardized Test Scores: A Correlational Study

Under pressure from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, school officials are seeking ways to improve standardized test scores to achieve required Adequate Yearly Progress. One proposed way to increase test scores is by increasing the amount of students' reading. The results from this quantitative correlational study identified the relationship between documented amounts of reading by high school students using the Accelerated Reader program and those students' performance on the Georgia High School Graduation Test. Archival data were collected for the Georgia High School Graduation test and for the Accelerated Reader program from students in a rural northwest Georgia high school; these archival data were collected from students who took the graduation test during the 2007--2008, the 2008--2009 and the 2009--2010 school years. The statistical analysis of these data identified that a moderate positive relationship did exist between the language art and social studies test scores and the amount of reading in the Accelerated Reader program. The highest degree of correlation was r=0.43 (p≤.01) which occurred with students who had the longest participation in the Accelerated Reader program. A moderate positive relationship existed between the science test scores and the amount of reading in the Accelerated Reader program, although the results from one year (r=0.19, p≤.01) was too small to be statistically significant. The conclusion from the study indicated a lack of a high correlation between the use of the program and higher student standardized test scores. Recommendations from this study include conducting further research to determine if the use of a different reading program might be associated with a higher level of correlation or if the use of the Accelerated Reader program may be more successful with a different population of students. An experiment with an experimental design could determine if a causal relationship exists between the variables.