An accelerated reading program has increased reading and comprehension levels among students at Bemboka Public School.

Teaching principal Wes Unicomb said the commercially available program – Accelerated Reader – had allowed the school, near Bega, to better match reading material to the reading level of students in Years 2 to 6.

“Schools are very good at matching children to texts at the K to Year 2 stage … but as children get older it gets harder to find texts for children that interest them and are at their reading level,” Mr Unicomb said.

The program works by taking resources from the school library and storing them in the classroom according to reading level categories.

Based on assessment activities, the students can then choose a book that matches their reading level before completing a computer-based, multiple-choice quiz.

The program produces a report that reveals comprehension accuracy and provides teachers with a record of texts read by the students.

“We can then integrate that information into a range of other reading activities and continue to retest the student and move them up to more challenging reading material,” Mr Unicomb said.

He said the school’s literacy results had improved since the program was introduced three years ago.

But the most positive outcome, Mr Unicomb said, has been “the greater engagement of children in independent reading and home reading in the primary years”.