In order to adequately talk about these subjects one must be familiar with what both mean. Ability is the state of being able to, power to do, and skill, or talent, achievement is something achieved especially by great effort, courage, or determination. They are both very familiar to educational professionals. Some use ability grouping in the class to make sure that the students can use peer tutoring.

            Some professionals say that ability grouping may not be advised for children. It may have a more negative effect rather than a positive effect on some of the children in the group. Within class ability grouping seems to be universal at the elementary level. Between class grouping means that the children may be formed in groups according to grade levels and/or ability.

Zone of proximal development comes in to the play. This is the difference between what the learner can do alone and what the learner can do with guidance. This theory of zone of proximal development was developed by Vygotsky. He maintains that a child follows an adult’s example and develops the ability to do certain tasks without help.

ZPD has been implemented as a measurable concept in the software Accelerated Reader. STAR reading software suggests a zone of proximal development. The range of difficulty with those books helps to improve vocabulary and other reading skills. There are four stages dealing with zone of proximal development. The first stage is when assistance provided by more capable others. Stage two is when the assistance is provided by the learner alone. Stage three is when internalization, fossilization and automatization occur. The final stage is when re-cursiveness thought prior stages occurs.