Raz-Plus Review
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-Plus supplies supplemental reading resources, including decodable texts, comprehension materials and a student practice portal. The key choice is which texts the teacher assigns and how they connect to instruction. Compare the available resources with the learner's current decoding skills and reading goals.
Product information: Learning A-Z Raz-Plus overview and subscription FAQ
Research review. About this review
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Pros
- Offers a massive, leveled digital library that allows students to practice reading at their precise instructional level.
- Incorporates audio-recorded reading features that enable teachers to evaluate student fluency and oral reading accuracy.
- Uses interactive phonics and vocabulary exercises that apply retrieval practice to strengthen early literacy skills.
- Connects digital and printable resources directly to classroom instruction to reinforce mastery-based progression.
Cons
- Multiple-choice comprehension quizzes do not provide explanatory feedback for incorrect answers, limiting independent learning.
- The gamified reward system, while motivating initially, can distract students from the actual reading tasks.
- Requires active teacher or parent management to effectively assign levels and monitor progress.
What Do We Know About Raz-Plus?
Raz-Plus is a highly effective tool for building reading fluency when used alongside active adult instruction, but it is not a standalone digital tutor. Your child will benefit most from the platform's massive library of leveled books, which allows them to read continuously at a difficulty level that matches their current skills. This approach supports the learning science principle of optimal challenge, keeping kids engaged without overwhelming them. However, you must actively monitor their progress. The program relies on teachers or parents to assign the correct reading levels and review the audio recordings your child submits. While the built-in quizzes test recall and basic comprehension, they lack the detailed corrective feedback necessary to teach new comprehension strategies. If your child selects a wrong answer, the app does not explain why the answer is incorrect. The gamified star-reward system motivates daily use, but you should ensure your child is actually reading the texts rather than just clicking through to earn points for their digital avatar. Overall, Raz-Plus provides excellent volume reading practice to consolidate early literacy skills, provided an adult guides the overarching learning journey.
How Does Raz-Plus Work?
Raz-Plus utilizes a blended, mastery-based learning approach by pairing a vast digital library of leveled texts with comprehension quizzes and teacher-facing assessment tools. Your child logs into a personalized dashboard where they access a "Reading Room" filled with books matched to their specific reading ability. For each book, students follow a listen-read-quiz progression. First, they can listen to the text being read aloud, which models proper pacing and pronunciation. Next, they read the text independently, with the option to record their voice so a teacher or parent can review their oral fluency. Finally, they complete a short multiple-choice quiz designed to assess their understanding of the material through active retrieval. As your child demonstrates mastery by passing quizzes, the assigned reading level increases, ensuring a continuous progression of difficulty. Teachers and parents use a backend dashboard to track accuracy, assign specific skill-building texts, and monitor time on task.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Raz-Plus
The biggest strength of Raz-Plus is its extensive leveled reading library that promotes high-volume fluency practice, while its biggest weakness is the lack of direct, scaffolded feedback during comprehension assessments. Fluency Development: The platform excels at providing students with a sheer volume of texts at their precise instructional level. This supports the cognitive science principle of automaticity; the more a student reads at an appropriate level, the less mental effort they expend on decoding words, freeing up cognitive load for comprehension. Formative Assessment: The audio recording feature is a powerful tool for educators and parents. It allows adults to conduct running records and assess oral reading fluency asynchronously, providing clear data on a child's decoding skills. Feedback Limitations: However, the platform falls short in its instructional feedback loop. When a student fails a comprehension quiz, the program tests retrieval but does not provide worked examples or explanations to correct misconceptions. Extrinsic Motivation: The gamification elements, where students earn stars to customize an avatar, provide strong extrinsic motivation for younger learners. Yet, this can sometimes lead to clicking through books quickly just to harvest points.
Who Might Benefit From Raz-Plus?
Raz-Plus is best for K-5 students who need daily, structured reading practice to build fluency and decoding skills alongside formal classroom instruction. The platform is highly effective for early and transitional readers who benefit from having access to hundreds of books explicitly matched to their current ability level. It serves as an excellent digital library for schools utilizing a blended learning model, as well as for homeschool parents seeking a structured progression of texts. However, it is less suitable for students requiring intensive, unassisted reading intervention.
What does Raz-Plus cost?
Retail price is $228 for a 1-year subscription.
Pricing and included features can change. Confirm the plan, renewal terms and any school-provided access on Raz-Plus's website.
Questions to ask before choosing Raz-Plus
Use these with a teacher, during a trial, or when comparing another option.
- Which assigned books match the phonics patterns the learner has already been taught?
- Who listens to reading and follows up on decoding or comprehension difficulties?
- Does the school account include home access and the materials you need?
- Which features are in the base subscription, and which require an add-on?
Data Transparency
Meets Data Transparency Standard
Raz-Plus 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?
“A special note to parents:** Please help us protect your children’s privacy by instructing them never to volunteer their personal information online without your permission.”
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?
“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 paragraphs without a separate 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?
“We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 unless and until an educational institution customer, parent, or guardian has authorized us to collect such information.”
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?
“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 does not name any format for exported data.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy lists student API calls as data it collects but does not offer an API for users to access 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, and required for autorostered students.
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy does not explicitly state that student email addresses are not collected.
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
“we 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 and does not say they are anonymized or truncated.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says it collects location information, including precise GPS location in mobile apps.
Third-Party Protection5/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
“The right to opt-out of the processing of personal information for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning the consumer. We do not process your personal information for any of these purposes”
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 will take steps to assess service providers' practices but does not describe contractual restrictions on them.
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 sharing data with AI or machine learning systems.
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.”
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?
“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”
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?
“We shared the above categories of CA Personal Information with third-party vendors and business partners to provide you with cross-context behavioral advertising.”
Free from third-party advertisements?
The policy does not say the product has no third-party ads, and it describes targeted advertising 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 describe an ad-free option or say the product has no ads.
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-Plus 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.
The sources below support the opening take and decision questions. Provider descriptions establish advertised features, not independently measured learning outcomes.
- Learning A-Z Raz-Plus overview and subscription FAQProduct information · Source checked 2026-09-04
Source-check dates apply to these links, not to every statement in the existing editorial or to a new formal assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions About Raz-Plus
Is Raz-Plus free?
No, Raz-Plus is not free. It is a premium educational platform that costs $228 for a one-year subscription, which typically covers a classroom of up to 36 students. Schools usually purchase these licenses on behalf of their teachers and students. Parents who homeschool can also purchase a license, but the pricing model is primarily designed for institutional purchasing rather than single-family consumer use.
Is Raz-Plus good for elementary students?
Yes, Raz-Plus is excellent for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The platform provides carefully leveled reading materials that perfectly align with early childhood and elementary literacy development. It offers an engaging mix of fiction and nonfiction texts suited for young readers. Because the texts scale up in complexity, it successfully grows with your child as they transition from basic phonics to more advanced reading comprehension tasks.
What does Raz-Plus teach?
Raz-Plus teaches reading fluency, phonics, vocabulary, and basic reading comprehension. It provides thousands of leveled books across various subjects, allowing students to practice decoding words, recognizing sight words, and recalling key details from texts through multiple-choice quizzes. The platform also exposes children to cross-curricular topics, meaning they will learn about science, history, and social studies concepts while simultaneously practicing their core literacy skills.
Raz-Plus vs Epic: Which is better?
Epic functions primarily as an open digital library designed to encourage reading for pleasure, while Raz-Plus is a structured, leveled reading program designed to integrate tightly with classroom instruction. Raz-Plus is much better for targeted skill development and precise assessment of reading levels, whereas Epic is superior for fostering a general love of reading through highly popular trade books. Your choice depends on whether you need strict skill-building or casual reading.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Raz-Plus?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Raz-Plus teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and reaches Level 2, Parent control.
Is Raz-Plus COPPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references COPPA. A policy reference alone does not establish COPPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy states it is designed to comply with COPPA.
Is Raz-Plus FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy says the company acts as a School Official under FERPA.
Does Raz-Plus 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 paragraphs without a separate children's privacy heading.
Does Raz-Plus 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 policy says it does not process personal information for the sale of personal data.
Can you delete your data from Raz-Plus?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Users can ask the company to close their account.
Keep the Raz-Plus decision brief
Subscribe to future TLS research updates and get a one-page guide to the key tradeoffs, questions to ask, and details to check before you choose. Download it here immediately.
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- Pricing
- Retail price is $228 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
- Website
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