This study was needed to determine if the Accelerated Reader (AR) program made a positive impact in schools, which were attempting to increase student achievement in reading. The purpose of this study was to determine if students who received reading instruction supplemented with the AR Program achieved higher reading scores as measured by the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) than students who were instructed using only traditional basal reader textbooks.

6 school districts were selected to participate in this study. There were 1,111 3rd – 5th grade students in the 6 districts between the years 2004 and 2007. Of those 1,111 students, 248 students met the criteria to be included in this study. Therefore, 248 students’ reading scores were analyzed for this study.

The findings of the study revealed that AR had a positive impact on students’ MCT reading scores. There were no significant differences, however, between the reading scores in the three years 2004, 2005, and 2006 of AR students (male or female) and the reading scores of the Non-AR (NAR) students (male or female). There were no significant differences between the reading scores in the three years 2005, 2006, and 2007 of the AR students and the reading scores of the NAR students (male or female).

This study was needed to determine if the AR program was beneficial to schools, which were attempting to increase student achievement in reading. The findings of this study may be used to help administrators and schools evaluate the usefulness and money spent on AR. While no significant differences were shown, the results did show that the AR students’ scores were higher than the NAR students on the MCT reading.