Raz-Kids
Product by Learning A-Z
Facts checked: Not yet checked
Our take (not a Learning Standard rating). This label applies to learning-science judgments throughout this overview.
Our take (not a Learning Standard rating)
Raz-Kids offers extensive independent reading practice through leveled texts and immediate comprehension checks, though its effectiveness relies heavily on adult monitoring. While the program successfully employs retrieval practice via end-of-book quizzes to measure recall, it lacks explicit phonics instruction, making it a supplemental tool rather than a comprehensive reading curriculum.
Keep the Raz-Kids decision brief
Keep the automatic-advancement distinction and a teacher message that turns a new Raz-Kids level into a conversation about reading and suitable books. Subscribe to future TLS research updates and download the one-page PDF here immediately.
Pros
- Utilizes retrieval practice through automated quizzes to test reading comprehension and factual recall.
- Provides leveled text progression that matches independent reading capabilities to reduce cognitive overload.
- Includes a listen-and-read feature that models fluent reading and pronunciation for early learners.
- Offers a massive digital library spanning multiple subjects to encourage cross-curricular vocabulary exposure.
Cons
- Lacks direct phonics instruction necessary for foundational decoding skills in early readers.
- Relies on a gamified reward system that emphasizes extrinsic motivation over intrinsic reading enjoyment.
- Features multiple-choice quizzes that primarily assess surface-level recall rather than deep comprehension.
- Requires significant teacher or parent oversight to ensure students are actually reading texts rather than guessing quiz answers.
What Do We Know About Raz-Kids?
Raz-Kids is effective as a supplemental practice tool for independent reading, but it will not teach your child how to read from scratch. The platform provides your child with a massive digital library of leveled books designed to match their current reading ability, preventing the frustration that occurs when texts are too difficult. After reading, your child completes short multiple-choice quizzes that use retrieval practice to test basic comprehension and vocabulary retention. However, parents should understand that this program assumes foundational decoding skills are being taught elsewhere. Your child earns digital stars for completing books and quizzes, which they can spend in a virtual builder. While this gamification drives engagement, it often shifts the focus toward earning points rather than enjoying the text. You will need to monitor your childs usage to ensure they are actively reading the material rather than listening to the audio version and guessing their way through the quizzes to earn quick rewards. While pending official evaluation by The Learning Standard, current observations indicate it is a solid practice repository but requires active adult oversight to maximize learning outcomes.
How Does Raz-Kids Work?
Raz-Kids uses a competency-based learning model where students progress through a library of leveled texts and complete immediate comprehension assessments. The platform assigns your child a specific reading level, from which they can select a variety of fiction and nonfiction books. For each text, students typically follow a three-step process: listening to the book to hear modeled fluency, reading the book independently to practice decoding, and taking an eQuiz to demonstrate understanding. The quizzes act as formative assessments, testing vocabulary, main ideas, and factual recall. If a student scores poorly, they are prompted to reread the text, reinforcing mastery before moving forward. The software tracks time spent reading and quiz scores, generating data dashboards for parents and teachers to monitor progress. As students demonstrate consistent comprehension at their current level, the adult administrator can move them up to the next difficulty tier, ensuring continuous but manageable cognitive challenge.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Raz-Kids
Raz-Kids biggest strength is its vast, precisely leveled library that prevents cognitive overload, while its biggest weakness is the over-reliance on multiple-choice quizzes that assess recall rather than critical analysis. Leveled Reading Progression: By providing texts exactly at a students instructional level, the app manages cognitive load effectively. This allows working memory to focus on comprehension rather than struggling with basic word recognition. Modeled Fluency: The audio-read feature provides excellent worked examples of fluent reading, demonstrating proper pacing and intonation for early readers. Comprehension Quizzes: The end-of-book quizzes employ basic retrieval practice, forcing students to pull information from memory. However, these assessments are highly structured and heavily rely on recognition rather than generation. Lack of Deep Processing: The app does not require students to summarize, infer, or write about what they have read. This limits deep cognitive processing, meaning your child may pass quizzes without truly understanding complex themes. Extrinsic Motivation: The token economy system encourages volume over quality, as students frequently rush through texts just to earn virtual stars.
Who Might Benefit From Raz-Kids?
Best for elementary students in grades K-5 who already possess basic phonics skills and need structured, independent reading practice. The platform serves as an excellent digital supplement for classroom instruction or homeschooling, offering a wide variety of cross-curricular texts to build background knowledge and vocabulary. Because the system requires a baseline of reading ability to be effective, it is not ideal for absolute beginners who need explicit phonemic awareness training. It works optimally for motivated learners who benefit from clear progression markers and parents who want straightforward metrics on their childs reading frequency and basic comprehension levels.
Data Transparency
Meets Data Transparency Standard
Raz-Kids meets our data transparency standard at Level 2 of 3 (Parent control). Level 3 needs the policy to document an API for retrieving their own data and a named export format.
24 of 35 checks passed
Level 1 · Basic protections
Does not sell data or target ads at students, limits sharing, and lets parents see and delete their child's data.
Level 2 · Parent control (meets the standard)
Families can get their data out, know who processes it, and know how long it is kept.
Level 3 · Direct data access
Families or schools can pull their own data through an API, in a stated format.
Not documented: an API for retrieving their own data, a named export format
View all 35 checks
Parent Access7/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
“When a parent or guardian signs up to provide our _Learning Platform Services at Home_ to a child under 13, we will seek the appropriate consent directly from the parent or guardian before collecting any personal information from the child.”
Can parents view their child's data?
“If you are an adult with parent access to the Services, you can view similar reports regarding only your child’s activity through the parent portal.”
Can parents modify their child's data?
“For _Enterprise Platform Services_ and _Direct Platform Services,_ we support access to, correction, and deletion of Student Data by our educational institution customer and/or teachers by cooperating and assisting the school and teachers to meet their requirements for access, correction, and deletion, or by responding to requests we receive from schools. If we receive such a request directly from a student or parent, we will advise the corresponding educational institution or teacher customer of the request and we will follow all lawful instructions from the institutions and teachers.”
Can parents delete their child's account?
“Adults with parent access may do this by contacting the account holder, such as the school, to request deletion of their child’s information.”
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
The policy covers COPPA and children under 13 in ordinary paragraphs and a short bulleted note, not in a section with its own children's privacy heading.
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
“This Privacy Policy and our Services are designed to comply with COPPA.”
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
“We provide the Learning Application Services as a “School Official” under the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”).”
Is parental consent required for child accounts?
“When a parent or guardian signs up to provide our _Learning Platform Services at Home_ to a child under 13, we will seek the appropriate consent directly from the parent or guardian before collecting any personal information from the child.”
Data Portability3/5
Can users access their personal data?
“You have the right to access, update and correct factual inaccuracies in the Personal Information that we collect through our Services, subject to certain exceptions.”
Can users download/export their data?
“Where required by applicable law, you may have the right to obtain confirmation that we maintain certain Personal Information relating to you, to verify its content, origin, and accuracy, as well as the right to access your Personal Information, request its update, integration, or completion, and request deletion or portability of your Personal Information.”
Is there a self-service data access tool?
“If you want to access, update, or correct your Personal Information, simply edit your profile by logging into your account.”
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
The policy mentions portability but does not name any export format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy lists student API calls as data it collects but offers no API for users to retrieve their data.
Data Minimization2/6
Is data collection itemized?
“We may collect and process the following types of student personal information as part of theServices:”
Can the app be used without a real name?
The policy lists student first and last name as collected (required for autorostered students).
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy does not explicitly say that student email addresses are never collected.
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
“In providing our Serviceswe strive to only collect and process data elements which are reasonably necessary, proportionate, and not excessive for the uses for which we need to process that data.”
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
The policy says IP addresses are collected but does not say they are anonymized or truncated.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says it collects precise location information, including GPS-based location from mobile apps.
Third-Party Protection5/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
“We do not sell or process personal information of students arising from the use of ourServices to target marketing or advertising to them.”
Are third-party providers named?
“· Google Analytics – We use Google Analytics to obtain information about your use of the Site and for targeted advertising.”
Are providers contractually restricted?
The policy says it assesses service providers' practices but does not explicitly say contracts restrict how they use data.
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
“We do not sell or process personal information of students arising from the use of ourServices to target marketing or advertising to them.”
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
The policy does not address AI or machine learning data sharing.
Child-specific sharing restriction?
“We will not provide Student Data to these third parties without express consent of the educational institution, parent, or guardian.”
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
“You may accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or select which types of cookies you wish to allow.”
Deletion & Retention5/5
Can users delete their account?
“If you no longer wish to use our Services, you may close your account by [contacting us](https://www.learninga-z.com/site/contact/support).”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
“Adults with teacher access may remove a student account by deleting the student from their classroom roster.”
Specific data retention timeline?
“For _Direct Platform Services_, student data is processed during the term an active licensing agreement is in place and is deleted within 45 days after the end of that licensing agreement; however, depending upon our back-up systems retention times such information may be maintained in backups for up to 180 days after termination of the _Learning Platform Services_.”
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
“If educational institutions do not instruct us to delete data, or our contracts do not specify time periods for retention, we reserve the right to delete inactive account information, including Student Data, in a reasonable period of time, which will not exceed one year from the last activity in an account.”
Post-deletion handling described?
“Voice recordings are deleted in accordance with our student data retention and deletion policies, including upon deletion of the associated student record or expiration of the applicable customer subscription, after which the recordings are no longer retrievable through normal business operations.”
Advertising2/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
“Targeting and social media cookies are shared with other third parties and used to track you across sites and over time for advertising purposes, such as to display online ads to you.”
Free from third-party advertisements?
The policy does not say the product is free of third-party ads, and it describes targeted advertising cookies on its website.
Children excluded from ad targeting?
“We do not sell or process personal information of students arising from the use of ourServices to target marketing or advertising to them.”
Ad-free option available?
The policy does not say the product has no ads or offer an ad-free option.
Meets Data Transparency Standard
The reviewed policy met our data transparency standard. This result describes the policy disclosures we assessed. Actual practices and legal compliance were not verified.
About this evaluation: Based on automated analysis of Privacy Policy, Privacy Policy and Application Privacy Policy against 35 policy-disclosure questions, including questions adapted from the Common Sense Privacy Program's published evaluation questions. TLS is not affiliated with Common Sense Media, and this is not a Common Sense rating. Quoted text is copied from the policy; unquoted notes are our summary. Results describe what the policy documents, not the company's actual practices. Privacy policies can change: this review reflects the version we analyzed and does not determine legal compliance.
Sources and review method
TLS combines product information and editorial analysis to explain how Raz-Kids works, its tradeoffs, and the questions to ask before choosing it. Product features, an instructional rationale and evidence of learning outcomes are different kinds of information.
Formal Learning Standard assessment: not yet completed. Data Transparency findings are reported separately and do not establish learning effectiveness. Read our methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Raz-Kids
Is Raz-Kids free?
No, Raz-Kids is not free. It is a premium educational platform designed primarily for schools, but parents can purchase a 1-year retail subscription for $125. Many students are able to access the application for free at home through their local school districts institutional license.
Is Raz-Kids good for Kindergarteners?
Partially. While it offers early-level books with strong audio support, Kindergarteners actively need explicit phonics instruction, which this app lacks. It is highly useful for practicing sight words and basic concepts already taught by a teacher, but it cannot serve as a standalone foundational reading curriculum for early childhood education.
What does Raz-Kids teach?
Raz-Kids teaches reading fluency, vocabulary development, and basic reading comprehension across multiple subjects including Humanities and Applied Sciences. It builds crucial background knowledge by exposing students to a wide variety of nonfiction and fiction texts at progressively challenging reading levels.
Epic! vs Raz-Kids: Which is better?
Epic! offers a more engaging, authentic library of mainstream trade books that fosters a genuine intrinsic love of reading. Raz-Kids feels more academic and highly structured, utilizing built-in quizzes to explicitly test comprehension. Choose Epic! for reading motivation, and Raz-Kids for accountable, measurable reading practice.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Raz-Kids?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Raz-Kids teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and reaches Level 2, Parent control.
Is Raz-Kids COPPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references COPPA. A policy reference alone does not establish COPPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy says it is designed to comply with COPPA.
Is Raz-Kids FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The vendor acts as a School Official under FERPA.
Does Raz-Kids have a children's privacy policy?
No dedicated children's privacy section was found in the reviewed policy. Policy review note: The policy covers COPPA and children under 13 in ordinary paragraphs and a short bulleted note, not in a section with its own children's privacy heading.
Does Raz-Kids sell student data?
The reviewed policy states that the app does not sell data. This is a policy statement; actual data practices were not verified. Policy review note: The vendor says it does not sell students' personal information.
Can you delete your data from Raz-Kids?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Users can close their account by contacting the vendor.
Keep the Raz-Kids decision brief
Keep the automatic-advancement distinction and a teacher message that turns a new Raz-Kids level into a conversation about reading and suitable books. Subscribe to future TLS research updates and download the one-page PDF here immediately.
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- Pricing
- Retail price is $125 for a 1-year subscription.
- Platforms
- Web Browser, iOS (Apple mobile), Android (Google mobile), Windows (Microsoft), macOS (Apple), Chrome OS (Google)
- Grade Levels
- Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade
- Website
- Visit site