On the Certifications tab of the Record Book, you can see your students' current certification goals (if any), and you can set new goals.
This tab is not available for classes that are using the K-2 goal model on the Student Goals tab. When you use that goal model, students earn character badges instead of certifications.
Reader certification levels are milestones of your students' reading achievements. As your students read more independently, pass Reading Practice Quizzes, and earn points from those quizzes, they can earn certain reader certifications if you have set goals. (Certification goals are different from the Reading Practice goals, which include average percent correct, reading range, and points goals.)
There are seven reader certifications that your students can earn that the program can automatically track, plus one additional certification (Honors Reader) that the program does not automatically monitor. When you set goals, you can choose a goal that a student has already achieved, allowing the student to recertify at that level.
| Certification Level | Criteria | Recommended Number of Recertifications |
|---|---|---|
| Ready Reader | Accumulate 5 points on books read To, read With, and/or read Independently. | No more than 5 times |
| Independent Reader | Read at least 3 books Independently with a 1.2 or higher ATOS book level (or 160L Lexile®* measure) and earn 10 points on books at any level. Only books read Independently count toward the 3-book goal, but books read To, With, or Independently count toward the points. | Do not recertify at this level |
| Rising Reader | Read 3 books Independently with a 1.6 or higher ATOS book level (or 250L Lexile® measure) and earn 10 points on books at any level. Only books read Independently count toward the 3-book goal and points. | No more than 5 times |
| Super Reader | Read 3 books Independently with a 2.0 or higher ATOS book level (or 330L Lexile® measure) that are each worth at least 1 point. Only books read Independently count toward the 3-book goal and points. | No more than 5 times |
| Advanced Reader | Read 3 books with a 3.0 or higher ATOS book level (or 510L Lexile® measure) that are each worth at least 2 points. Only books read Independently count toward the certification. | No more than 5 times |
| Star Reader | Read 3 books with a 4.0 or higher ATOS book level (or 660L Lexile® measure) that are each worth at least 4 points. Only books read Independently count toward the certification. | No more than 5 times |
| Classic Reader | Read 3 books with a 6.0 or higher ATOS book level (or 900L Lexile® measure) that are each worth at least 7 points. Only books read Independently count toward certification. | No more than 5 times |
| Honors Reader | Read books Independently from a special list of challenging literature (created by teachers and librarians), and accumulate 100 points from the quizzes. Teachers must track this certification manually using information in the software about books read and points earned; the software does not track this certification. TOPS Reports and the Student Performance Record Report can help teachers track this certification. | Not needed at this level |
How to Open the Record Book and Select the Goals
Who can do this with default permissions?
District Level Administrators, School Level Administrators, Teachers*
*Other users can view the certification goals, but they cannot change the goals.
If you have a Home page tile like the first example below, to open the Accelerated Reader Record Book, select Accelerated Reader 360 Independent Reading; then, select Record Book & Goals in the menu. If your home page is Renaissance Next, select AR under My Apps on the left side of the page as shown in the second example below; then, select Record Book & Goals in the menu that opens.
You can also select Reports on your home page and select Accelerated Reader / Reading Practice or Accelerated Reader Reports in the menu that opens. Then, on the Accelerated Reader / Reading Practice tab, select AR Record Book & Goals.
When you have opened the Accelerated Reader Record Book, select the Certifications tab.
Selecting the School and Class
At the top of the page, you will see a School drop-down list if you have access to more than one school and a Class drop-down list if you have access to more than one class. Use the drop-down list(s) to select the school and class whose information you want to view. You can view information for one class at a time. Note: The Marking Period drop-down list does not affect the Certifications tab; it is used for the Student Goals tab.
Once you've chosen the class you want to work with, notice the school year summary information that is shown at the top of the page. You'll see your students' average book level, the number of books they've read this school year, the number of articles they've read, the percentage of nonfiction they've read, and the number of words they've learned (as shown through Vocabulary Quizzes).
Viewing Certification Goals
The Reading Certification Goals table for the class shows you:
- Each student's name
- The certification goal set for each student (see the table above)
- The start date, which you choose when you set the goal (The date may be a specific date, the start of a specific marking period, or after the student achieved his or her previous goal.)
- The achieved date (only shown when the student has achieved a goal and does not yet have a new goal)
- The status:
- In Progress: The goal has started. Any Reading Practice Quizzes that the student passes will apply toward the goal.
- Upcoming: The start date for the goal is in the future, so the student has not started working toward the goal.
- Achieved: The student has met the goal and achieved the certification.
Setting Certification Goals
To set new certification goals for your students, follow these steps:
- Check the students who need the same new certification goal. (Students who have no goal will be checked by default.) If you want to set a different goal for some students, repeat these steps with those students after you set the first goal.
If you select students who already have a goal, the new goal that you set will replace the current goal.
- Select Set Goals for Selected above the table.
- In the window that opens, use the drop-down list to select the type of goal that you want to set.
- Select a Start Date option:
- After student's last certification: The goal will start after the student achieved his or her previous goal in this school year. If there is no previous goal, the new goal will start today.
-
Start of selected marking period: The goal will start at the beginning of the marking period that you select from the drop-down list. Marking periods that have been added for your school and this school year are listed.
-
Selected date: Select the calendar and use it to choose the date when you want the goal to start.
To go to the next or previous month in the calendar, use the arrows at the top of the window.
You can also select the month name (MAR 2019 in the example above) and then choose a different year and month. When you have found the month that you want, select a date; be sure to choose a date within the current school year and the class period. - Select Save. The window will close, and you will see the new goal(s) in the table.
If any of the students already has a certification goal, you will be asked if you want to overwrite the existing goal with the new goal that you are setting. If you want to continue and overwrite the goal, select Overwrite Goals. If not, select Cancel, check only those students who don't already have a certification goal, and repeat the steps above.
How Students See Their Certification Goals
To see their goals and achieved certifications, in Accelerated Reader, students select Progress on the top of the page. Then, they select the My Certifications tab. In the example below, the student has achieved the Super Reader certification; the student's current goal is the Advanced Reader certification. The student can see what needs to be done to meet each goal.
Other Tabs in the Record Book
To see the quizzes your students have taken, select the Latest Quiz tab.
To see or set your students' reading practice goals, select the Student Goals tab. (The tab name is Turn On Goals if you haven't set student goals for this class yet.)
To see how much reading bilingual students are doing in Spanish and English, select the Biliteracy Report tab.
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