Accelerated Reader is an online resource owned by Renaissance. AR Bookfinder is a facet of Accelerated Reader that allows educators and students to find books based on reading levels, interest levels, and subject. It also maintains quizzes for thousands of books. This resource is free, which is great for teachers, librarians, parents, and students who are searching for books that are appropriate.
My school has a subscription to Accelerated Reader 360, which allows students to take quizzes, and teachers to manage the quizzes students have taken. I can see how this would be a wonderful resource to teachers and librarians who want to have a way to assess how thoroughly or completely students are reading. As an example I took the quiz on Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I found the quiz to be specific and challenging, making it fairly hard to guess or try to skim for the answers and get a good score.
While I can see this being a powerful resource in the hands of educators, there are some drawbacks. There is a cost to the subscription, and it is based on the number of students you have. Some schools may not be able to afford the cost. I could also see how reading could be morphed into the goal being doing well on the quizzes, and reading for that purpose. Reading is meant to be educational and enjoyable, and when students and educators start making it about the goal of answering all the questions correctly, you aren't reading for the right reasons and may even have a harder time deriving meaning from what you are reading.
Overall I feel that this could be a great tool, especially in ELA classrooms and libraries. It can help to develop a reading culture in your school and make managing keeping track of student progress easier.
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