Renaissance Next

Accelerated Reader is a digital reading-management program developed by Renaissance that helps schools, teachers, and librarians manage, monitor, and motivate independent reading practice among students. Students choose books at their reading level and read them at their own pace. After finishing a book, they take a computerized comprehension quiz via AR to assess their understanding. Each book in the AR catalog is assigned a readability level (via the ATOS readability formula) and a point value based on length and complexity; when students successfully pass the quiz, they earn points. These points contribute toward personalized reading goals set by teachers. Teachers (and in some cases parents) receive detailed feedback and reporting on each student’s reading behavior, including books read, comprehension, progress toward goals, and reading volume.

STAR Phonics is a web-based phonics assessment tool from Renaissance, intended to help educators quickly and precisely evaluate foundational reading skills in students. The assessment measures mastery across 12 key phonics categories and diagnoses 102 specific phonics skills, giving detailed insights into which phonics patterns a student has mastered and which require further instruction. The screening is efficient, typically taking only 2–5 minutes per student, and results are available immediately, without manual data entry. It provides diagnostic reports at the student, class, and grade level; these reports highlight patterns of error and skill-level gaps, helping teachers tailor instruction for individuals, small groups, entire classes, or whole grades. Recently, STAR Phonics has added enhanced features like audio pronunciation for every assessment word (to support correct scoring), and improved exportable screener data (by phonics category and by individual word).