Star Reading is a customized reading test for students to take on a computer. The test is designed for students in grades 1 through 12 (also for students in kindergarten who have basic reading skills). Teachers can use reports from Star Reading to determine the reading level of each student and to measure growth.

Zone of Proximal Development

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a term borrowed from psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In Accelerated Reader, the ZPD is a range of 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 (see the STAR Reading Reading Range Report). Determining a student's reading level - or a Grade Equivalent (GE) score from a standardized test such as STAR Reading - and ZPD will help you set an average book level goal and point goal with the student in Accelerated Reader. The ZPD, however, 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 judgment to adjust the level of books read to match an individual student's needs and interests.

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The table below shows how ZPDs are selected based on some Grade Equivalent (GE) levels. In the table, you'll see a distinctive pattern. Above 2.0, the ZPD begins at a level that is lower than the GE - considerably lower as the GE goes up. This is because the GE from a test represents the highest level at which a student can read short passages, not the level at which he or she can read comfortably for hours. Besides that, most non-instructional materials, even for adults, are written at a level below 6.0. (John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, for example, has a book level of 4.9.) If students were asked to only read books that matched their GE, once they tested higher than about 6.0, they would be faced with very difficult, and probably not very enjoyable, material.

Grade Equivalent:                 Suggested ZPD:

1.0                                                            1.0-2.0

1.5                                                            1.5-2.5

2.0                                                            2.0-3.0

2.5                                                            2.3-3.3

3.0                                                            2.6-3.6

3.5                                                            2.8-4.0

4.0                                                            3.0-4.5

4.5                                                            3.2-5.0

5.0                                                            3.4-5.4

5.5                                                            3.7-5.7

6.0                                                            4.0-6.1

6.5                                                            4.2-6.5

7.0                                                            4.3-7.0

7.5                                                            4.4-7.5

8.0                                                            4.5-8.0

9.0                                                            4.6-9.0

10.0                                                          4.7-10.0

11.0                                                          4.8-11.0

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*ALL INFORMATION TAKEN FROM https://hosted229.renlearn.com/707870/

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