Renaissance does not recommend giving marks for reading practice; however, some schools choose to do so. If you must give marks, we encourage you to follow these guidelines:
- Do base a student's mark on the amount of progress made toward personalised marks. Do not give the highest marks to the highest point or badge earners, which would unfairly penalise struggling readers.
- Do not give students marks unless you are actively monitoring their work. Students who have low scores on quizzes or students who have accumulated few points may be having trouble finding appropriate books, or they may be trying to read books that are too hard. Intervene first, and be sure students know what to do to be successful before evaluating their efforts.
- Do build your library and quiz collection before instituting a policy for marks. Do not inadvertently turn students off reading by forcing them to read books they are not interested in simply to earn a mark.
- Do make your library accessible so that students have ample opportunity to find books quickly and easily.
- If a number of teachers are using Accelerated Reader, do decide on a formula for marks together.
One way to give a mark is to weight different aspects of reading practice and look at a student's progress toward targets. Mrs. Jones, for example, is using the rocket target model and has decided that meeting an average percentage correct target is 50 per cent of a mark. Meeting a point target is 25 per cent. Other targets she has set - choosing books within the ZPD and maintaining a log - are also worth 25 per cent. One of her students, Rebecca, has an average percentage correct of 92.9. She has reached 86.3 per cent of her point target. Mrs. Jones has observed that Rebecca achieved the other class targets at a 100 per cent level. She then calculates Rebecca's mark in this way:
Average percentage correct: 92.9 × .50 = 46.4
Points: 86.3 × .25 = 21.6
Other: 100 × .25 = 25
Total (AR mark): 93.0