I just thought I would mention that my DD's gifted magnet has never used AR. I don't know the reason for this, but it is not a part of the curriculum at all. They do do reading responses--short answers, with the topics and questions varying, but it has to be general, since they read whatever they want. They also have no requirement for the level of what they read. This is outside of in-class reading, which is actually NOT differentiated--they all read the same novels, which are not that far above grade level but seem to be chosen carefully for complex themes.
