Scholastic Literacy Pro
Product by Scholastic Inc.
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)
While Scholastic Literacy Pro offers an extensive library of high-quality texts that encourage independent reading, its effectiveness hinges on teacher implementation. It provides excellent access and choice, but relies on classroom instruction rather than direct, in-app explicit phonics or comprehension teaching.
Pros
- Motivates sustained reading practice by allowing students to choose texts aligned with their personal interests.
- Provides educators with immediate, actionable data on reading comprehension and Lexile levels to guide classroom instruction.
- Supports cross-curricular learning by integrating science and social studies texts into daily literacy practice.
- Enables continuous access to reading materials both in the classroom and at home to increase total reading volume.
Cons
- Lacks explicit phonics or decoding instruction for early readers who have not yet mastered foundational skills.
- Relies heavily on multiple-choice comprehension checks rather than written responses requiring active recall.
- Requires significant teacher oversight to ensure students are selecting appropriately challenging texts.
- Only available through school or district site licenses, restricting access for individual parents.
What Do We Know About Scholastic Literacy Pro?
Scholastic Literacy Pro serves as a highly effective digital library for reading practice, but it is not a standalone reading tutor. Your child will use this platform primarily to access a vast collection of fiction and nonfiction books matched to their reading level and personal interests. Because reading volume is a strong predictor of reading fluency, having constant access to engaging texts supports literacy development. Parents should understand that this app does not teach foundational reading mechanics like phonics or decoding. Instead, it tests comprehension after the reading is complete. Teachers use the resulting data to monitor progress and adjust their in-class instruction. The platform excels at building reading stamina and vocabulary through exposure, which learning science confirms is critical for background knowledge acquisition. If your child's school uses this program, encourage your child to explore topics they love, but be prepared to provide separate support if they struggle with sounding out words.
How Does Scholastic Literacy Pro Work?
Scholastic Literacy Pro uses a personalized reading model where students self-select texts based on their assessed Lexile levels and personal interests. Once your child logs in, they take a brief assessment to determine their current reading comprehension level. The system then generates a customized bookshelf filled with digital books spanning various subjects, including science, humanities, and social studies. As your child reads, the platform tracks their time spent reading and pages completed. After finishing a book, students typically complete a short comprehension quiz. These quizzes rely on basic retrieval practice, testing whether the student grasped the main ideas and vocabulary from the text. The results are immediately sent to the teacher dashboard, allowing educators to track reading growth over time and intervene if a student is struggling with specific comprehension skills.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Scholastic Literacy Pro
Scholastic Literacy Pro's biggest strength is its immense, high-quality digital library, while its biggest weakness is the absence of direct reading instruction for struggling readers. Volume of reading is critical for developing fluency and expanding vocabulary, and this platform excels at keeping students engaged by offering choices that match their interests. By allowing students to read across subjects like science and social studies, the app helps build background knowledge, a key component of reading comprehension. Furthermore, the platform quizzes provide a form of retrieval practice, prompting students to recall information they just read. However, the app falls short for emergent readers. It lacks explicit instruction in phonics or phonemic awareness, meaning it cannot teach a non-reader how to read. The comprehension checks are also heavily reliant on recognition tasks rather than deeper analytical writing. Ultimately, it is a powerful tool for building reading stamina and tracking progress, provided that teachers supply the foundational instruction separately.
Who Might Benefit From Scholastic Literacy Pro?
Best for K-8 students who already possess basic decoding skills and need extensive reading practice to build fluency and comprehension. It is an ideal tool for school districts looking to bridge classroom instruction with at-home reading habits. Because it spans multiple genres and subjects, it works exceptionally well for curious students motivated by choice. Emergent readers in kindergarten or first grade will need significant adult support to navigate the texts, making it better suited for independent readers in second grade and above who are ready to read to learn rather than learning to read.
Data Transparency
Does Not Meet Data Transparency Standard
Scholastic Literacy Pro reaches Level 1 of 3 (Basic protections), below our data transparency standard. Reaching Level 2 needs the policy to document a data retention timeline and self-service deletion.
24 of 35 checks passed
Evaluated October 2026
Privacy Policy →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.
Not documented: a data retention timeline, self-service deletion
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 Access8/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices.”
Can parents view their child's data?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices. To make a request, please contact your school or school district.”
Can parents modify their child's data?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices. To make a request, please contact your school or school district.”
Can parents delete their child's account?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices. To make a request, please contact your school or school district.”
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
“Scholastic designs its Products to comply with all applicable laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
“Scholastic designs its Products to comply with all applicable laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
“Scholastic designs its Products to comply with all applicable laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Is parental consent required for child accounts?
“To the extent permitted by law, Scholastic relies on its Education Customers to act as intermediaries to obtain any parent, guardian or other consents required under applicable law or district policy for us to collect, process or maintain Personal Information or Student Data.”
Data Portability2/5
Can users access their personal data?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices. To make a request, please contact your school or school district.”
Can users download/export their data?
“Eligible students or their parents or guardians may have the legal right (including under FERPA, COPPA and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)) to access, correct, export or delete certain of their own information or content, or to make certain choices. To make a request, please contact your school or school district.”
Is there a self-service data access tool?
The policy only describes requests made through the school, not a tool users operate themselves.
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
The policy does not name any export format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy does not mention an API for getting data.
Data Minimization2/6
Is data collection itemized?
“Student roster data: First and last names, email address, student ID numbers, grade level, user name/password, reading level or other performance data.”
Can the app be used without a real name?
The policy says student roster data includes first and last names.
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy says student roster data includes email addresses.
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
“We only collect Personal Information and Student Data reasonably necessary to provide the Products to our Education Customers.”
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
The policy says it collects IP addresses and does not say they are anonymized or truncated.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says it collects general location from IP addresses, though not precise location, so location tracking is not ruled out.
Third-Party Protection6/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
“Scholastic does not sell or rent Personal Information or Student Data.”
Are third-party providers named?
“Scholastic uses Adobe Analytics or Google Analytics in some of its Products, to better understand how our Products are used, and how we can improve them.”
Are providers contractually restricted?
“Our service providers can only use Personal Information and Student Data to provide the contracted services, not for their own commercial purposes, and are subject to written security, confidentiality and non-disclosure obligations.”
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
“Our Products do not contain third party advertising or targeted advertising.”
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
The policy does not address AI or machine learning.
Child-specific sharing restriction?
“We do not disclose any Student Data or Personal Information about the users of our Products to any third party, except:”
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
“We use cookies, pixels & session replay technology when you navigate our site. Manage your cookie preferences here.”
Deletion & Retention2/5
Can users delete their account?
“We keep Student Data for the period reasonably necessary to perform and support the services requested by the Education Customer or as required by contract, and we dispose of it (e.g., return or destroy it) at the Education Customer’s direction.”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
Deletion happens only by request through the school; the policy offers no self-service option.
Specific data retention timeline?
The policy keeps data for a "reasonably necessary" period and gives no specific timeline.
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
The policy does not address deleting inactive accounts.
Post-deletion handling described?
“Where permitted, our destruction methods may include irreversible de-identification or overwriting. Scholastic may keep back-up and similar copies of Personal Information and Student Data that it is unable to destroy using commercially reasonable measures, to the extent permitted by law.”
Advertising4/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
“Our Products do not contain third party advertising or targeted advertising.”
Free from third-party advertisements?
“Our Products do not contain third party advertising or targeted advertising.”
Children excluded from ad targeting?
“Scholastic does not track or build personal profiles of students for advertising purposes.”
Ad-free option available?
“Our Products do not contain third party advertising or targeted advertising.”
What This Means
The policy review did not meet our data transparency standard. The checks above show the documented findings and unknowns. A missing statement does not establish how the app handles data in practice.
About this evaluation: Based on automated analysis of 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 Scholastic Literacy Pro 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 Scholastic Literacy Pro
Is Scholastic Literacy Pro free?
No, Scholastic Literacy Pro is not free for individual users. It is sold exclusively as a site-based purchase to schools and districts, meaning parents can only access it if their child's school provides a login.
Is Scholastic Literacy Pro good for kindergarteners?
Partially. While kindergarteners can enjoy the read-aloud features and early picture books, the platform lacks the explicit phonics instruction required to teach young children how to decode words independently.
What does Scholastic Literacy Pro teach?
Scholastic Literacy Pro focuses on reading comprehension, vocabulary expansion, and reading fluency. It provides cross-curricular texts that also expose students to humanities, science, and social studies concepts.
How does Scholastic Literacy Pro compare to Epic?
Both platforms provide massive digital libraries for students, but Scholastic Literacy Pro places a heavier emphasis on Lexile leveling and teacher data dashboards. Epic is often more accessible for direct consumer purchase by parents.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Scholastic Literacy Pro?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Scholastic Literacy Pro teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and reaches Level 1, Basic protections.
Is Scholastic Literacy Pro COPPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references COPPA. A policy reference alone does not establish COPPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy states its products are designed to comply with COPPA.
Is Scholastic Literacy Pro FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy states its products are designed to comply with FERPA.
Does Scholastic Literacy Pro have a children's privacy policy?
The reviewed policy includes a dedicated children's privacy section. Policy review note: This sentence opens the policy's own section headed "FERPA and COPPA".
Does Scholastic Literacy Pro 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 explicitly says Scholastic does not sell data.
Can you delete your data from Scholastic Literacy Pro?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Student Data is destroyed when the school directs it.
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- Pricing
- Literacy Pro is available as a site-based purchase. Volume discounts may apply.
- Platforms
- Web Browser, iOS (Apple mobile), iPadOS (Apple tablet), 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, 7th Grade, 8th Grade
- Website
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