The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a term borrowed from psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In Accelerated Reader, the ZPD is a range of ATOS book levels that are not too challenging and not too easy, depending upon a student's reading level. Although ZPD itself is not entered or calculated in Accelerated Reader, it is a key component of successful reading practice and goal setting. Star Reading provides a ZPD for each student who has tested. The ZPD is approximate. Success at any reading level also depends on the student's interest and prior knowledge of a book's content. Teachers should use their professional judgement to adjust the level of books read to match an individual student's needs and interests. For more information, see Zone of Proximal Development in the Accelerated Reader help.
You can find students' Zones of Proximal Development on the Star Reading Range Report and these other reports (when Star Reading is the selected assignment type):
- Historical Extract
- Instructional Planning - Student Report
- Star Annual Progress Report
- Star Diagnostic Report
- Star Family Report
- Star Parent Report
- Star Screening Report
- Star Summary Report
- Star Test Record Report
If the Lexile® range preference is set to use Lexile® ranges for a school, Star reports will show those ranges instead of Zones of Proximal Development.