A new school year brings new goals, new routines, and new opportunities to build a strong reading culture. To help your team start the year with momentum, we’re highlighting five recent Beanstack updates that make it easier to manage your program, support individual readers, and understand the impact of reading engagement.
1. Daily Reading Goals
Every reader’s journey looks a little different. Some students are building stamina, some are ready for a challenge, and some need a small, achievable daily goal. With our new Daily Reading Goals feature, educators can set personalized daily reading goals that help students build momentum at their own pace.
With Daily Reading Goals, schools can:
- Personalize reading goals in Beanstack: Set, update, and track daily reading targets that reflect each student’s reading habits and growth areas.
- Encourage stronger engagement: Help students stay motivated by giving them a clear, achievable goal and real-time visibility into their progress.
- Support everyday classroom use: Give teachers a simple way to connect Beanstack to each student’s reading routine and provide the right level of support.
Whether your goal is to monitor progress over time, support differentiated learning styles, or create a more motivating experience for every reader, this new feature allows you to meet students where they are. To get started, go to Setup > Daily Reading Goals and set your goals today!
2. Beanstack and Comics Plus Integration
Libraries and schools work hard to build strong reading cultures, but reading happens in many places: in classrooms, at home, on library shelves, and increasingly through digital collections. The Beanstack and Comics Plus integration brings reading activity together while increasing engagement for both platforms.
With the integration, schools and libraries can:
- Offer a seamless experience: Reading in Comics Plus automatically counts in Beanstack, giving readers credit for the reading they’re already doing.
- Encourage use across both platforms: High-interest content from Comics Plus will fuel participation in Beanstack challenges. On the flip side, Beanstack challenges will encourage readers to explore Comics Plus’ 25K+ titles.
- See impact in action: A more connected experience helps schools and libraries see how access, participation, and engagement work together.
The Beanstack and Comics Plus integration is now available to schools and libraries with both Beanstack and Comics Plus subscriptions. Eligible schools and libraries can contact our support team to activate it today.
3. Another Year of Reading Culture Awards!
Back for a third year, we’re once again changing things up for the Reading Culture Award program. Here’s how your school can earn recognition this year:
- Spark status: 10% student participation. You’ve sparked something special — your reading culture is on the rise!
- Igniter status: 25% participation. You’ve lit a fire. Each school that reaches this milestone receives a coupon code for a free Benny the Bean plushie!
- Pathfinder status: 50% participation. Your school is well on its way to building a strong reading culture. You’re almost there!
- Trailblazer status: 75% participation. Each school that reaches this milestone receives a $25 gift card to celebrate. Plus, you’re added to our list of Trailblazing schools!
Every milestone gives your school a reason to recognize progress, celebrate participation, and keep readers moving toward the next goal.
4. Reading Motivation Index (RMI)
Reading skills matter, but students also need the motivation to use those skills consistently. The Reading Motivation Index (RMI) helps schools and districts better understand the factors influencing students’ reading behaviors. Based on research from the National Reading Research Center, the RMI evaluates intrinsic and extrinsic factors connected to reading frequency, stamina, and academic performance.
The RMI goes beyond measurement by helping educators turn insights into action. Schools and districts can:
- Track changes in reading motivation over time.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen reading frequency and stamina.
- Take targeted action at the student, classroom, grade, school, and district levels.
This new add-on feature helps educators better understand what drives each reader, support meaningful choice, and create more effective engagement strategies without adding instructional pressure.
5. Self-Service Rostering Tools
Starting the school year with accurate classes and user information just got easier. Our new rostering tools give school and district administrators greater visibility into their import settings, roster data, and upcoming account changes, all in one place.
With this new functionality, Beanstack Admins can:
- Choose which classes to import: Select the classes you want to import in Beanstack based on subject or any keyword filters.
- Preview roster changes: Before making any updates, review the classes, teachers, and students that will be imported or removed before saving your changes.
- Monitor roster activity: See current totals from your most recent sync and review upcoming user deactivations before they occur.
- Manage start and pause dates: Update your roster sync start and pause dates directly from the same settings page.
With more information available up front, administrators can make updates with confidence and ensure the right readers, educators, and classes are connected from the start.
Start the School Year With Confidence
These updates give educators and administrators more ways to simplify program management, personalize the reading experience, and turn engagement data into action!
Visit our Help Center for more information about all of our new features and updates.
Not using Beanstack yet? Contact our team to schedule a demo and learn how to bring these features to your school.
