I agree that AR is helpful at the developing reader stage (elementary school), setting goals which seems a strong motivator to read. I don't like when reading level limits what kids can read, but luckily some teachers just say read anything you want regardless of levels. Problems of the past included lack of books in the elementary school AR "library" for advanced readers, but this has been rectified. I also agree that AR should not constitute the entire reading program...Our teacher complements it with book studies (reading a book as a class, discussing it, worksheets) and magazines (like Weekly Reader, but I forget the titles) with question/answers afterward.
STAR testing (both in reading and math) is limited but our schools use it as well. Once kids score 12.9+ the schools will keep using the test over and over, which is crazy, eh? Seems like a waste of time at that point.
