Reading A-Z
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)
Reading A-Z provides a massive library of leveled texts that support differentiated instruction and repeated reading practice. However, because it relies heavily on direct instruction and teacher facilitation rather than built-in adaptive algorithms, its effectiveness depends entirely on how the adult implements the reading routines and comprehension checks.
Pros
- Offers 29 distinct reading levels to ensure students practice within their zone of proximal development.
- Includes paired fiction and nonfiction texts to build essential background knowledge and vocabulary.
- Provides explicit lesson plans that support systematic phonics and comprehension instruction for educators.
- Uses repeated reading exercises to actively build reading fluency and automaticity.
Cons
- Lacks built-in, automated corrective feedback for students reading independently.
- Requires heavy adult facilitation to deliver the explicit instruction and monitor progress.
- Relies on leveled reading frameworks that can sometimes restrict students from accessing complex, grade-level texts.
What Do We Know About Reading A-Z?
Reading A-Z is highly effective for building literacy skills when an adult actively guides the instruction, but it is not a standalone app that will teach your child to read independently. This platform is primarily designed for educators, offering a vast repository of printable and digital books spanning 29 developmental levels. To get the most out of it at home, you must be prepared to act as the teacher. Your child will benefit from the extensive variety of fiction and nonfiction texts that help build background knowledge, which is a critical component of reading comprehension. Instead of interactive games or adaptive algorithms, the program relies on traditional direct instruction and guided reading practices. You will need to print the materials, read alongside your child, and administer the provided comprehension quizzes to check for understanding. By using the platform's paired texts and targeted lesson plans, you can facilitate repeated reading, which learning science shows is highly effective for improving fluency and word recognition. While the annual subscription is a significant investment for a single family, the sheer volume of leveled texts ensures your child will never run out of practice material at their precise reading level.
How Does Reading A-Z Work?
Reading A-Z uses a blended learning approach centered on guided reading and direct instruction through thousands of leveled texts. The platform organizes its library of over 1,500 books into 29 distinct reading levels, allowing adults to match texts precisely to a student's current reading ability. Users access the system via a web browser to search for books by topic, phonics skill, or reading level. Once a book is selected, educators or parents can project it digitally or print it as a physical booklet. Each text comes with a comprehensive lesson plan, worksheets, and a comprehension quiz. Students read the texts, often utilizing cooperative learning or direct adult support, and then complete the associated activities to practice retrieval of key information. The progression is entirely mastery-based, meaning the adult must assess the student's performance on the current level's quizzes and fluency checks before manually advancing them to the next, more rigorous set of texts.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Reading A-Z
Reading A-Z's biggest strength is its massive library of leveled texts that support targeted reading practice, while its biggest weakness is the complete reliance on adult facilitation to provide feedback and track mastery. On the positive side, the platform excels at providing materials for differentiated instruction. Because texts are categorized into 29 granular levels, students can consistently practice reading in their zone of proximal development, avoiding the frustration of texts that are too complex while still being challenged. The inclusion of paired fiction and nonfiction texts is particularly strong, as learning science indicates that building domain-specific background knowledge directly improves reading comprehension. Furthermore, the printable resources encourage repeated reading, a proven method for building fluency and automaticity in early readers. Conversely, the lack of an adaptive digital engine means the platform offers no automated feedback or scaffolded support during independent practice. If a student mispronounces a word or misunderstands a passage while reading alone, there is no system in place to correct the error. The burden of retrieval practice and comprehension checking falls entirely on the parent or teacher, making it a resource-heavy tool that requires significant time investment to be effective.
Who Might Benefit From Reading A-Z?
Reading A-Z is best for K-5 educators and highly involved homeschooling parents who need a comprehensive curriculum of leveled reading materials to support direct literacy instruction. The platform is specifically designed for adults teaching early childhood and elementary students to read through guided reading frameworks. It is an ideal resource for classrooms or home environments where the goal is to systematically build phonics, fluency, and comprehension skills using a blended approach of digital projection and printable paper booklets. It is not suitable for parents looking for an independent, screen-based reading game for their children.
Data Transparency
Meets Data Transparency Standard
Reading A-Z 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.
25 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?
“We collect and process personal information from parents and guardians, teachers, school administrators, and students.”
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 regular paragraphs and short notes, with no 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?
“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 names no export format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy does not describe an API that users, parents or schools can use to retrieve their data; it lists 'Student API Calls' only as collected 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 says student first and last name is optional but required for autorostered students, so real names can be collected.
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy does not state that student email addresses are never collected; its student data list simply does not mention them.
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 and combined with browser data, and does not say they are anonymized or truncated.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says it collects precise location from GPS on mobile apps and location on the teacher website.
Third-Party Protection6/7
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?
“we may also have to send personal information to other third parties who are not service providers of ours, and whose information practices are not governed by agreements we have with them where they must process information in accordance with our directives.”
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.
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?
“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 discloses targeting cookies used to show ads on its websites.
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 advertising.
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 Reading A-Z 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 Reading A-Z
Is Reading A-Z free?
No, Reading A-Z is not free. A standard subscription costs $125 per year. This grants a single classroom or home educator full access to the digital library, printable books, and associated lesson plans for a full 12 months.
What does Reading A-Z teach?
Reading A-Z teaches foundational literacy, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. The platform provides thousands of leveled fiction and nonfiction texts designed to help students master phonics, expand their vocabulary, and build critical background knowledge across K-5 humanities and science topics.
Is Reading A-Z good for kindergarteners and elementary students?
Yes, Reading A-Z is excellent for kindergarten through 5th-grade students. The platform's 29 distinct reading levels ensure that emergent readers in early childhood education get the foundational phonics texts they need, while older elementary students can access complex nonfiction passages to refine their comprehension skills.
Reading A-Z vs. Raz-Kids: What is the difference?
Reading A-Z provides the lesson plans, printable books, and teaching resources for adults to deliver direct instruction, while Raz-Kids is the student-facing interactive portal. Raz-Kids allows children to log in independently, listen to books, read aloud for recording, and take digital comprehension quizzes for automated feedback.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Reading A-Z?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Reading A-Z teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and reaches Level 2, Parent control.
Is Reading A-Z 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 Reading A-Z FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The company acts as a FERPA School Official.
Does Reading A-Z 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 regular paragraphs and short notes, with no separate Children's Privacy heading.
Does Reading A-Z 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 company says it does not sell student personal information.
Can you delete your data from Reading A-Z?
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 company.
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- Pricing
- Retail price is $125 for a 1-year subscription.
- Platforms
- Web Browser, iPadOS (Apple tablet), Windows (Microsoft), Chrome OS (Google)
- Grade Levels
- Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade
- Website
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