Differentiating Instruction: Beginning the Journey "In the end, all learners need your energy, your heart and your mind. They have that in common because.

Differentiating Instruction: Beginning the Journey

"In the end, all learners need your energy, your heart and your mind. They have that in common because they are young humans. How they need you however, differs. Unless we understand and respond to those differences, we fail many learners." *

* Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms (2nd Ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Nanci SmithEducational ConsultantCurriculum and Professional DevelopmentCave Creek, [email protected]

Differentiated Instruction

Defined“Differentiated instruction is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences. Rather than marching students through the curriculum lockstep, teachers should modify their instruction to meet students’ varying readiness levels, learning preferences, and interests. Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to ‘get at’ and express learning.”

Carol Ann Tomlinson

Key Principles of a Differentiated ClassroomKey Principles of a Differentiated Classroom

• The teacher is clear about what matters in subject matter.

• The teacher understands, appreciates, and builds upon student differences.

• Assessment and instruction are inseparable.

• The teacher adjusts content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interests, and learning profile.

• All students participate in respectful work.

• Students and teachers are collaborators in learning.

• Goals of a differentiated classroom are maximum growth and individual success.

• Flexibility is the hallmark of a differentiated classroom.

• The teacher is clear about what matters in subject matter.

• The teacher understands, appreciates, and builds upon student differences.

• Assessment and instruction are inseparable.

• The teacher adjusts content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interests, and learning profile.

• All students participate in respectful work.

• Students and teachers are collaborators in learning.

• Goals of a differentiated classroom are maximum growth and individual success.

• Flexibility is the hallmark of a differentiated classroom.

Source: Tomlinson, C. (2000). Differentiating Instruction for Academic Diversity. San Antonio, TX: ASCD

Assessment in a Differentiated

Classroom• Assessment drives instruction. (Assessment information helps

the teacher map next steps for varied learners and the class as a whole.)

• Assessment occurs consistently as the unit begins, throughout the unit and as the unit ends. (Preassessment, formative and summative assessment are regular parts of the teaching/learning cycle.)

• Teachers assess student readiness, interest and learning profile.• Assessments are part of “teaching for success.”• Assessment information helps students chart and contribute to

their own growth.• Assessment MAY be differentiated.• Assessment information is more useful to the teacher than

grades.• Assessment is more focused on personal growth than on peer

competition.

Two Views of Assessment --Assessment is for:

Gatekeeping

Judging

Right Answers

Control

Comparison to others

Use with single activities

Assessment is for:

Nurturing

Guiding

Self-Reflection

Information

Comparison to task

Use over multiple activities

FLEXIBLE GROUPINGStudents are part of many different groups – and also work alone – based on the

match of the task to student readiness, interest, or learning style. Teachers may create skills-based or interest-based groups that are heterogeneous or homogeneous

in readiness level. Sometimes students select work groups, and sometimes teachers select them. Sometimes student group assignments are purposeful and sometimes random.

1 3 5 7 9

8642

Teacher and whole class begin exploration

of a topic or concept

Students and teacher come together to share information and pose

questions

The whole class reviews key ideas and

extends their study through sharing

The whole class is introduced to a skill

needed later to make a presentation

The whole class listens to individual study plans and

establishes baseline criteria for success

Students engage in further study using varied materials

based on readiness and learning style

Students work on varied assigned tasks designed to

help them make sense of key ideas at varied levels of

complexity and varied pacing

In small groups selected by students, they apply key

principles to solve teacher-generated problems related

to their study

Students self-select interest areas through which they will

apply and extend their understandings

A differentiated classroom is marked by a repeated rhythm of whole-class preparation, review, and sharing, followed by opportunity for individual or small-group exploration, sense-making, extension, and production

Differentiation of Instruction

Is a teacher’s response to learner’s needs

guided by general principles of differentiation

Respectful tasks Flexible grouping Continual assessment

Teachers Can Differentiate Through:

Content Process Product

According to Students’

Readiness Interest Learning Profile

for

Interest – Readiness – Learning Profile

by

Self – Peers - Teachers

Flexible Grouping

Students are part of many different groups (and also work alone) based on the match of the

task to student readiness, interest, or learning style. Teachers may create skills – based or

interest – based groups that are heterogeneous or homogeneous in readiness level.

Sometimes students select work groups, and sometimes teachers select them. Sometimes

student group assignments are purposeful and sometimes random.

A Differentiated Classroom in BalanceA Differentiated Classroom in Balance

FLEXIBLE Sense

OfCommunityTime

Groups

Resource

Approachesto teachingand learning

Concept-based

Inviting

ProductOriented

Focused

SafeRespect forindividual

RespectFor

Group

Sharedgoals

Sharedresponsibility

SharedVision

On-goingassessmentto determine

need

Feedbackand

grading

ZPDTarget

Tomlinson-ooAffirming Shared

Challenge

How Does Research Support DI?• Differentiated Instruction is the result of a

synthesis of a number of educational theories and practices.

• Brain research indicates that learning occurs when the learner experiences moderate challenge and relaxed alertness –readiness

• Psychological research reveals that when interest is tapped, learners are more likely to find learning rewarding and become more autonomous as a learner.

Checklist for Brain Based Classrooms

Brain organization and

Building safe environments: Do students feel safe to risk and

experiment with ideas? Do students feel included in the

class and supported by others? Are tasks challenging enough

without “undo distress?” Is there an emotional “hook”

for the learners? Are there novel, unique and

engaging activities to capture and sustain attention?


Recognizing and honoring diversity:

Does the learning experience appeal to the learners’ varied multiple intelligences and learning styles?

May the students work collaboratively and independently?

May they “show what they know” in a variety of ways?

Does the cultural background of the learners influence instruction?


Assessment: Is there enough time to explore,

understand and transfer the learning to long term memory (grow dendrites)?

Is there time to accomplish mastery?

So they have opportunities for ongoing, “just in time” feedback?

Do they have time to revisit ideas and concepts to connect or extend them?

Is metacognitive time built into the learning process?

Do students use logs and journals for reflection and goal setting?


Instructional Strategies: Are the expectations clearly stated

and understood by the learner? Will the learning be relevant and

useful to the learner? Does the learning build on past

experience or create a new experience?

Does the learning relate to their real world?

Is it developmentally appropriate and hands on?

Are the strategies varied to engage and sustain attention?

Are there opportunities for projects, creativity, problems and challenges?


New Models: Do students work alone, in pairs

and in small groups? Do students work in learning

centers based on interest, need or choice?

Are some activities tiered to provide appropriate levels of challenge?

Is compacting used to provide enrichment and challenge?

Is integrated curriculum, problem based and service learning considered?

Are contracts negotiated to provide appropriate learning activities for students?

Best Practices forStandards-based Instruction

Best Practice, New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s

Schools

Zemelman, S., Daniels, H. & Hyde, A. (1998). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann


Within these recommendations, growth does not necessarily mean moving from one practice to another, discarding a previous instructional approach and replacing it forever. Instead, teachers add new, effective alternatives to a widening repertoire of choices, allowing them to alternate among a richer array of activities, creating a richer and more complex balance of instruction.


Physical FacilitiesFrom:

•Set-up for teacher-centered instruction (separate desks)

•Rows of desks

•Bare, unadorned space

•Textbooks and handouts

To:

Set-up for student-centered instruction (tables or groupings)

Clusters, centers, etc.

Student work, friendly

Purposeful materials

Best Practices forStandards-based InstructionClassroom Climate / Management

From:

•Punishment and rewards

•Teacher-created and enforced rules

•Passive learning

•Solely ability grouping

•Rigid schedule

To:

Engagement and community

Students help set and enforce norms

Purposeful engagement

Flexible grouping

Flexible time based on activity


Student Voice and Involvement

Balanced with teacher-chosen and teacher-directed activities:

Students often select inquiry topics, books, writing topics, etc.

Students maintain their own records, set goals, and self-assess

Some themes / inquiries are built from students’

own questions

Students assume responsibility and take roles

in decision making


Activities and AssignmentsFrom:

•Teacher presentation

•Whole-class instruction

•Uniform curriculum

•Short-term lessons

•Memorization and recall

•Short responses, fill-in-the-blank

•Same assignments

To:

Students experiencing concepts

Centers, groups, variety

Topics by students’ needs or choice

Extended activities

Application and problem solving

Complex responses, evaluations and writing

Multiple intelligences, cognitive styles


Language and CommunicationFrom:

•Forced constant silence

•Short responses

•Teacher talk

•Focus on facts

To:

Noise, conversation alternates with quiet

Elaborated discussions

Student-teacher, student-student

Skills, concepts, synthesis, evaluation

Best Practices for Standards-based InstructionStudent Work and Assessment

From:

•Products for teacher / grading

•No student work displayed

•Identical, imitative products

•Feedback = scores or grades

•Seen / scored only by teacher

•Teacher grade book

•Standards set during grading

To:

Products for real events / audience

High quality / all students

Varied and original products

Substantive, varied, formative feedback

Public displays and performances

Student-maintained portfolios, assessments

Standards co-developed with students


Teacher Attitude and Initiative Toward Students:

From Distant, negative, fearful or punitive To Positive, respectful, encouraging and warm

From Blaming students to Reasoning with Students

From Directive to Consultative


Teacher Attitude and Initiative Toward Self:

From Helpless victim To Risk taker, experimenter, creative agent

From Solitary adult To Member of team within school and network beyond school

From Staff development recipient To Directing

own professional growth

From Role of expert or presenter To Coach,

mentor, model and guide

Have you ever said …’I just don’t know what to do with that kid’?

(Remember, don’t overgeneralize. There’s great diversity in all groups!!!)

Persistent Underachievement

• Help the student accept control over his/her decisions and life.

• Be clear and specific about tasks and requirements.

• Use appropriate consequences for work done/not done.

• Break tasks into small segments.

• Check in with the student often.

• Be firm but warm.

• Don’t tell him/her you know he/she can do the work.

• Coordinate approaches with a counselor and parents when possible.

All Learners in Academically Diverse Classrooms

• Help students understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

• Celebrate and understand student learning differences.

• Help students learn the power of controlling what they can in their lives.

• Help them understand our shared needs for success, to belong, to trust, the future, etc.

• Help them see that each person is irreplaceable – uniqueness is a plus.

• Help students learn to set their own goals and chart their progress.

• Teach in varied readiness levels, interest and ways of learning;


Students with Learning Disabilities

• Emphasize strengths.

• Develop ways to compensate for weaknesses so they don’t inhibit what the student can do.

• Help the student distinguish between and explain both strengths and weaknesses, as well as plans for both.

• Shoot high and then scaffold the weakness.

• Be clear about what the student should know, understand, and be able to do – but offer options for explanation, expression and assessment.

Students with Retardation or Similar Struggles

• Focus on essential concepts and principles as a context for applying IEP skills.

• Use IEP goals in ways that integrate students with their peers rather than isolating them.

• Whenever possible, teach for meaning rather than rote – uild frameworks of meaning.

• Spotlight the student’s legitimate successes and contributions.

• Use small groups for teaching needed skills, re-teaching by need.


Advanced Learners• Emphasize quality of thought and

expression vs. accuracy.

• Balance student choice and teacher choice tasks to allow independence but still ensure encounters with rigor.

• Help the student learn to compete against him/herself.

• Necessitate and commend intellectual risk and perseverance.

• When “raising the ceiling,” support the climb! Teach for success.

• Be flexible. Invite student imput.

• Use small groups to extend thought and skills levels.

Students with Behavior Problems• Coordinate efforts and strategies with

specialists.

• Help the student articulate difficult areas and learn to look for signs of them.

• Be sure the student has an easy “way out” of tough spots.

• Provide “safe” spaces to be alone / work alone.

• Acknowledge successes.

• Allow choices when feasible.

• Be flexible about movement.


Second Language Learners

• Link classroom & ESL resource work.

• Ensure that the student has useful tasks at all times andis accountable for them (listening/reading with tapes, writing, translating, vocabulary practice).

• Don’t let the student sit idle and isolated.

• Use students who can bridge the two languages.

• Plam specific ways each day to involve the student in coversation & contribution.

• Chart growth vs. only comparison

• Use small groups for teaching next-step skills.

Culturally Diverse Learners

• Help build peer-support systems.

• Be sure you offer varied working arrangements and modes of expression.

• Invest time in the student in ways that communicate your berlief in his/her success.

• Help the student develop “school skills” that may be weak.

• Teach from whole to part.

• Be clear about expectations and that students both understand and know how to achieve them. Don’t let work slide.

• Emphasize contextualized learning.

THINKING ABOUT ON-GOING ASSESSMENT

STUDENT DATA SOURCES1. Journal entry2. Short answer test3. Open response test4. Home learning5. Notebook6. Oral response7. Portfolio entry8. Exhibition9. Culminating product10. Question writing11. Problem solving

TEACHER DATA MECHANISMS

1. Anecdotal records2. Observation by checklist3. Skills checklist4. Class discussion5. Small group interaction6. Teacher – student

conference7. Assessment stations8. Exit cards9. Problem posing10. Performance tasks and

rubrics

Learner Profile Card

Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic

Modality

Multiple Intelligence Preference

Gardner

Analytical, Creative, Practical

Sternberg

Student’s Interests

Array Inventory

Gender Stripe

Some Traits of QualityCurriculum & Instruction

Some Traits of Quality Differentiation

• Promotes understanding• Engaging (mentally and affectively)• Focuses on Knowledge, concepts, understandings, & skills valued by experts in a discipline• Rich, deals with profound ideas• Tightly focused goals & components• Joyful / satisfying• Coherent (sensible to the learner, organized to promote retention & use)• Seems real (is real) to the student• Helps learner feel more powerful & purposeful in his/her world• Requires high level thinking• Fresh, surprising, curiosity-provoking, interesting• Provides choices• Clear in expectations• Allows meaningful collaboration• Focused on products meaningful to students & others• Connects with students’ lives & world• Calls on students to use what they learn in interesting & important ways.• Involves students in setting goals for their learning & assessing progress toward those goals• Stretches the student

• Rooted in student need• an extension of high quality curriculum• Derived from on-going assessment• Respectful of each learner• Builds community• Involves students as decision –makers• Demonstrates teacher-students partnerships in teaching & learning• Growth focused• Scaffolds growth for each learner• Supports successful collaboration• Stretches each learner• Promotes & rewards individual excellence• Addresses readiness, interest, & learning profile• Attends effectively to gender & culture• Spans content, process, & product• Effective & varied use of instructional approaches• Teaches students to take responsibility for own learning• Flexible use of time, space, materials, groupings• Maximizes opportunity to “show what you know”• Balances student & teacher choice• Planned (proactive) plus tailoring• Occurs when either teacher or student is on center stage• Includes whole class, small group, & individual instruction• Supports success for each learner & the class as a whole• Builds collaborations with parents

Tomlinson/UVa/2000

Planning a Focused CurriculumPlanning a Focused Curriculum

Facts (Columbus cam to the “New World”

Vocabulary (voyage, scurvy)

Concepts (exploration, change)

Principles/Generalizations (Change can be both positive and negative. Exploration results in change. People’s perspectives affect how they respond to change).

Skills

Basic (literacy, numeracy)

Thinking (analysis, evidence of reasoning, questioning)

Of the Discipline (graphing/math/social studies)

Planning (goal setting; use of time)

Social

Production

Means Clarity About

What Students Should:

Know

Understand

Be Able to Do

As a Result of a Lesson, Lesson Sequence, Unit, and year

In general, these are held

steady as a core for nearly

all learners in a

differentiated classroom* *Exception--linear skills and information which can be assessed for mastery in the sequence (e.g. spelling)

These are the facts, vocabulary, dates, places, names, and examples you want students to giveyou.

The know is massively forgettable.

“Teaching facts in isolation is like trying to pump water uphill.” Carol Tomlinson

These are the written statements of truth, the core to the meaning(s) of the lesson(s) or unit. These are what connect the parts of a subject to the student’s life and to other subjects.

It is through the understanding component of instruction that we teach our students to truly grasp the “point” of the lesson or the experience.

Understandings are purposeful. They focus on the key ideas that require students to understand information and make connections while evaluating the relationships that exit within the understandings.

Major Concepts and Subconcepts

A Student who UNDERSTANDS Something can…

• Explain it clearly, giving examples• Use it• Compare and contrast it with other concepts• Relate it to other instances in the subject studies, other

subjects and personal life experiences• Transfer it to unfamiliar settings• Discover the concept embedded within a novel problem• Combine it appropriately with other understandings• Pose new problems that exemplify or embody the

concept• Create analogies, models, metaphors, symbols, or

pictures of the concept• Pose and answer “what-if” questions that alter variables

in a problematic situation• Generate questions and hypotheses that lead to new

knowledge and further inquiries• Generalize from specifics to form a concept• Use the knowledge to appropriately assess his or her

performance, or that of someone else.Adopted from Barell, J. (1995) Teaching for thoughtfulness: Classroom Strategies

These are the basic skills of any discipline. They include the thinking skills such as analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing. These are the skills of planning, the skills of being an independent learner, the skills of setting and following criteria, the skills of using the tools of knowledge such as adding, dividing, understanding multiple perspectives, following a timeline, calculating latitude, or following the scientific method.

The skill portion encourages the students to “think” like the professionals who use the knowledge and skill daily as a matter of how they do business. This is what it means to “be like” a doctor, a scientist, a writer or an artist.

Skills

to Differentiate Content• Reading Partners / Reading Buddies

• Read/Summarize• Read/Question/Answer• Visual Organizer/Summarizer• Parallel Reading with Teacher Prompt

• Choral Reading/Antiphonal Reading• Flip Books• Split Journals (Double Entry – Triple Entry)• Books on Tape• Highlights on Tape• Digests/ “Cliff Notes”• Notetaking Organizers• Varied Texts• Varied Supplementary Materials• Highlighted Texts• Think-Pair-Share/Preview-Midview-Postview

Tomlinson – ‘00

TO DIFFERENTIATE PROCESS

• Fun & Games

• RAFTs

• Cubing, Think Dots

• Choices (Intelligences)

• Centers

• Tiered lessons

• Contracts

USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES.

The following findings related to instructional strategies are supported by

the existing research:• Techniques and instructional strategies have nearly as much influence on student learning as student aptitude.

• Lecturing, a common teaching strategy, is an effort to quickly cover the material: however, it often overloads and over-whelms students with data, making it likely that they will confuse the facts presented

• Hands-on learning, especially in science, has a positive effect on student achievement.

• Teachers who use hands-on learning strategies have students who out-perform their peers on the National Assessment of Educational progress (NAEP) in the areas of science and mathematics.

• Despite the research supporting hands-on activity, it is a fairly uncommon instructional approach.

• Students have higher achievement rates when the focus of instruction is on meaningful conceptualization, especially when it emphasizes their own knowledge of the world.

RAFTRAFT is an acronym that stands for

Role of the student. What is the student’s role: reporter, observer, eyewitness, object?

Audience. Who will be addressed by this raft: the teacher, other students, a parent, people in the community, an editor, another object?

Format. What is the best way to present this information: in a letter, an article, a report, a poem, a monologue, a picture, a song?

Topic. Who or what is the subject of this writing: a famous mathematician, a prehistoric cave dweller, a reaction to a specific event?

RAFT ActivitiesRole Audience Format Topic

Semicolon Middle Schoolers Diary entry I Wish You Really

Understood Where I Belong

N.Y.Times public Op Ed piece How our Language Defines

Who We Are

Huck Finn Tom Sawyer Note hidden in a tree knot A Few Things You Should Know

Rain Drop Future Droplets Advice Column The Beauty of Cycles

Lung Owner Owner’s Guide To Maximize Product Life

Rain Forest John Q. Citizen Paste Up “Ransom” Note Before It’s Too Late

Reporter Public Obituary Hitler is Dead

Martin Luther King

TV audience of 2010 Speech The Dream Revisited

Thomas Jefferson Current Residents of Virginia

Full page Newspaper Ad If I Could Talk to You Now

Fractions Whole Numbers Petition To Be Considered A Part of the Family

A word problem Students in your class Set of Directions How to Get to Know Me

Lang

uage

Arts

& L

itera

ture

Scie

nce

His

tory

Mat

h

Format based on the work of Doug Buehl cited in Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me Then Who? Billmeyer and Martin, 1998

Developing a Tiered Activity

Select the activity organizer•concept•generalization

Essential to buildinga framework ofunderstanding

Think about your students/use assessments

• readiness range• interests• learning profile• talents

skillsreadingthinkinginformation

Create an activity that is• interesting• high level• causes students to use key skill(s) to understand a key idea

Chart the complexity of the activity

High skill/Complexity

Low skill/complexity

Clone the activity along the ladder as needed to ensure challenge and success for your students, in

• materials – basic to advanced• form of expression – from familiar to

unfamiliar• from personal experience to removed

from personal experience•equalizer

Match task to student based on student profile and task requirements

1

3

5

2

4

6

Information, Ideas, Materials, Applications

Representations, Ideas, Applications, Materials

Resources, Research, Issues, Problems, Skills, Goals

Directions, Problems, Application, Solutions, Approaches, Disciplinary Connections

Application, Insight, Transfer

Solutions, Decisions, Approaches

Planning, Designing, Monitoring

Pace of Study, Pace of Thought

The Equalizer

1. Foundational Transformational

2. Concrete Abstract

3. Simple Complex

4. Single Facet Multiple Facets

5. Small Leap Great Leap

6. More Structured More Open

7. Less Independence Greater Independence

8. Slow Quick

Designing a Differentiated Learning Designing a Differentiated Learning ContractContract

A Learning Contract has the following components1.1. A Skills ComponentA Skills Component

Focus is on skills-based tasksAssignments are based on pre-assessment of students’ readinessStudents work at their own level and pace

2.2. A content componentA content componentFocus is on applying, extending, or enriching key content (ideas, understandings)Requires sense making and productionAssignment is based on readiness or interest

3.3. A Time LineA Time LineTeacher sets completion date and check-in requirementsStudents select order of work (except for required meetings and homework)

4. The AgreementThe AgreementThe teacher agrees to let students have freedom to plan their timeStudents agree to use the time responsiblyGuidelines for working are spelled outConsequences for ineffective use of freedom are delineatedSignatures of the teacher, student and parent (if appropriate) are placed on the agreement

Differentiating Instruction: Facilitator’s Guide, ASCD, 1997

to Differentiate Product

• Choices based on readiness, interest, and learning profile

• Clear expectations• Timelines• Agreements• Product Guides• Rubrics• Evaluation

Creating a Powerful Product Assignment1. Identify the essentials of the unit/study

What students must:• Know (facts)• Understand (concepts, generalizations)• Be able to do (skills)

As a result of the unit/study2. Identify one of more format or “packaging options” for the product:

• Required (e.g. poetry, an experiment, graphing, charting)• Hook• Exploratory• Talent/passion driven

3. Determine expectations for quality in:• Content (information, ideas, concepts, research materials)• Process (planning, goal-setting, defense of viewpoint, research,

editing)• Product (size, construction, durability, expert-level expectations, part

4. Decide on scaffolding you may need to build in order to promote success:

• Brainstorming for ideas• Developing rubrics/criteria for success• Timelines• Planning/goal-setting• Storyboarding• Critiquing• Revising-editing

5. Develop a product assignment that clearly says to the student:• You should show you understand and can do these things• Proceeding through these steps/stages• In this format• At this level of quality

6. Differentiate or modify versions of the assignments based on:• Student readiness• Student interest• Students learning profile

7. Coach for success!

Creating a Powerful Product Assignment, cont’d

It is your job, as teacher, to make explicit That which you thought was implicit

MapDiagramSculptureDiscussionDemonstrationPoemProfileChartPlayDanceCampaignCassetteQuiz ShowBannerBrochureDebateFlow ChartPuppet ShowTour

LectureEditorialPaintingCostumePlacementBlueprintCatalogueDialogueNewspaperScrapbookLectureQuestionnaireFlagScrapbookGraphDebateMuseumLearning CenterAdvertisement

Book ListCalendarColoring BookGameResearch ProjectTV ShowSongDictionaryFilmCollection

Trial

Machine

Book

Mural

Award

Recipe

Test

PuzzleModelTimelineToyArticleDiaryPosterMagazineComputer ProgramPhotographsTerrariumPetition DriveTeaching LessonPrototypeSpeechClubCartoonBiographyReviewInvention

ASSESSING TEACHER CREATED PRODUCTS

1. Product designed to expand on all key concepts

2. Product designed to expand on all key principles / generalizations

3. Product designed to expand on all key skills.

4. Product facilitates students use and extension of key knowledge.

5. Product rationale is made clear to students.

6. Clear directions are provided that are both thorough and open.

7. Product provides clear criteria for successes at a high level of expectations for content, process and product.

8. Product assignment necessitates creativity.

9. Product assignment supports creativity.

10. Product challenges a full range of readiness levels.

11. Product allows/encourages pursuit of student interest.

12.. A menu of product options and/;or working arrangements supports varied learning profiles.

13. On going support is provided as needed throughout product assignment.

14. Product uses timelines, check in dates or process logs.

15. Product encourages varied forms of research, expressions, and technology.

16. Product provides formative and summative evaluation by peers.

17. Product provides formative and summative evaluation by self.

18. Product provides formative and summative evaluation by teacher.

STRONG 1

PRESENT 2

MARGINAL 3

ABSENT 4

Differentiated Report Cards

A = Excellent Growth

B = Very Good Growth

C = Some Growth

D = Little Growth

F = No Observable

Growth

1 = The student is

Above Grade Level

2 = The student is

Working At Grade Level

3 = The student is

Working Below Grade Level

On report cards, I need to find a way to show individual growth and relative standing to students and parents

Tomlinson, 2001

A = Excellent GrowthB = Very Good GrowthC = Some GrowthD = Little GrowthF – No observable growth 1 = Above grade level2 = At grade level3 = Below grade level

A = Excellent B = Very GoodC = AverageD = PoorF – Unsatisfactory 1 = Above grade level2 = At grade level3 = Below grade level

A-1 = Excellent performance; working above grade levelA-2 = Excellent performance; working at grade levelA-3 = Excellent performance; working below grade level

Personal grade & Traditional grade:B = Personal gradeD = Traditional grade

C = Personal gradeA = Traditional grade

Grades are supposed to: 1. Motivate students 2. Report accurately to parents

Begin Slowly – Just Begin!

Low-Prep DifferentiationChoices of booksHomework optionsUse of reading buddiesVaried journal PromptsOrbitalsVaried pacing with anchor optionsStudent-teaching goal settingWork alone / togetherWhole-to-part and part-to-whole explorationsFlexible seatingVaried computer programsDesign-A-DayVaried Supplementary materialsOptions for varied modes of expressionVarying scaffolding on same organizerLet’s Make a Deal projectsComputer mentorsThink-Pair-Share by readiness, interest, learning profileUse of collaboration, independence, and cooperationOpen-ended activitiesMini-workshops to reteach or extend skillsJigsawNegotiated CriteriaExplorations by interestsGames to practice mastery of informationMultiple levels of questions

High-Prep DifferentiationTiered activities and labsTiered productsIndependent studiesMultiple textsAlternative assessmentsLearning contracts4-MATMultiple-intelligence optionsCompactingSpelling by readinessEntry PointsVarying organizersLectures coupled with graphic organizersCommunity mentorshipsInterest groupsTiered centersInterest centersPersonal agendasLiterature CirclesStationsComplex InstructionGroup InvestigationTape-recorded materialsTeams, Games, and TournamentsChoice BoardsThink-Tac-ToeSimulationsProblem-Based LearningGraduated RubricsFlexible reading formatsStudent-centered writing formats

OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION

To Differentiate Instruction By

Readiness

To Differentiate Instruction By

Interest

To Differentiate Instruction by

Learning Profile

,equalizer adjustments (complexity ٭open-endedness, etc.

add or remove scaffolding ٭

& vary difficulty level of text ٭supplementary materials

adjust task familiarity ٭

vary direct instruction by small group ٭

adjust proximity of ideas to student ٭experience

encourage application of broad concepts ٭& principles to student interest areas

give choice of mode of expressing ٭learning

use interest-based mentoring of adults ٭or more expert-like peers

give choice of tasks and products ٭(including student designed options)

& give broad access to varied materials ٭technologies

create an environment with flexible ٭learning spaces and options

allow working alone or working with ٭peers

use part-to-whole and whole-to-part ٭approaches

Vary teacher mode of presentation٭(visual, auditory, kinesthetic, concrete, abstract)

adjust for gender, culture, language ٭differences.

useful instructional strategies:

- tiered activities

- Tiered products

- compacting

- learning contracts

- tiered tasks/alternative forms of assessment


- interest centers

- interest groups

- enrichment clusters

- group investigation

- choice boards

- MI options

- internet mentors


- multi-ability cooperative tasks

- MI options

- Triarchic options

- 4-MAT

CA Tomlinson, UVa ‘97

Thinking About the Role of Instructional Strategies in Differentiation Strategy for

DifferentiationPrimarily Used to

Differentiate Positives Cautions

Tiered Assignments Readiness Meat & Potatoes differentiation Must use as only part of a flexible grouping pattern

Tiered Products Readiness, Interest, Learning Profile

Can be passion-producing Must provide coaching for quality

Learning Contracts Readiness Encourage student autonomy Be sure to blend skill and content

Drill-Focused Cooperative Tasks

Low End Readiness Deals with coverage and mastery issues

May aggravate have/have not status

Thought/Production Focused Cooperative Tasks

Interest, Learning Profile

Involves all students with high level tasks

Be sure tasks call for varied intellectual skills

Alternative Assessments

Readiness, Learning Profile

More of a real-world way of measuring student learning

Be sure assessment focus on essential understandings and skills

Graduated Rubrics Readiness Clear coaching for quality and success Take care to stress ideas and process more than mechanics

Choice Boards Readiness, Interest Balances teacher choice and student choice

Teacher choice should target readiness

Learning Centers Readiness Can target varied skills levels in a class Don’t send all students to all centers

Strategy for Differentiation

Primarily Used to Differentiate

Positives Cautions

Interest Centers Interest Can link classroom topics to areas of student talent and interest

Be sure centers provide depth or breadth (vs cute)

Enrichment clusters Interest, Learning profiles

Stresses student choice and students as producers of useful products

Lose their punch without teachers skilled in the cluster domain

Compacting High End Readiness

Can reduce unnecessary redundancy for advanced or eager learners

Loses its punch unless Column 3 is rich and challenging

Peer Tutoring Low End Readiness

Gives struggling learners additional explanation opportunities

Can over-use high end learner in teacher role and may short change struggling learner if tutor is weak

Multi Ability Options (MI, Triarchic Theory)

Interest, Learning Profile

Encourages teachers to be flexible in planning routes to learning

Can easily become just a learning style vs. intelligence approach

4-MAT Learning Profile Helps teachers be more conscious of student learning style/mode

Can become formula-like – does not address readiness

Independent Study Interest Encourages student autonomy in planning and problem-solving

Students need an amount of independence suited to their readiness for it

Small Group Direct Instruction

Readiness Cuts down size of class and increases student participation

Students not being taught must be well anchored

Thinking About the Role of Instructional Strategies in Differentiation, cont’d

Differentiated Schools

Schools that promote and support DI include classrooms and programs that:

• Respond to variations in students’ readiness• Respond to the myriad of students’ interest• Respect the various students’ learning profiles• Regard leadership as a cornerstone good

instruction Vera J. Blake, [email protected] [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Administrative Roles in Achieving Differentiation

• Introduce all teachers to concept• Provide opportunities for training• Establish expectations• Provide opportunities for training• Provide opportunities for teachers to demonstrate and share• Provide support – resources, time, expect teachers assistance• Encourage risk-taking• Observe and evaluate (develop tools to do this for my site’s

focus)• Provide feedback• Model lessons and team teaching• Reward progress Vera J. Blake, Ed.D.

[email protected] [email protected]



Leadership in DifferentiationTo be effective in using differentiation, site administrators and

central office should be:Consistent:• Use vocabulary that is clear and commonly understood by

the principal, the parent, the teacher• Articulate the philosophy: Kids differ. Professional

teachers act robustly to address the differences.• State the expectations: all of us must g row in

responsiveness. That we must change / grow / differentiate is non-negotiable; the path that we each may take is negotiable.

• Incorporate umbrella image – these are overarching goals, for everyone, and these can and do encompass other areas like literacy in technology or reading competency.

Vera J. Blake, [email protected] [email protected]



Leadership in DifferentiationPersistent:• State and follow long term goals at all levels: classroom,

school site, district• State and follow short term goals at all levels• Set time-lines so that everyone knows these goals are not

going away• Connect with all initiatives: standards, math assessment,

technology• Provide on-going sharing of “how”• Provide on-going sharing of results throughout the school

and districtVera J. Blake, [email protected] [email protected]



Leadership in DifferentiationInsistent:• Require that differentiation be part of teacher

plans• Require that differentiation be part of school plans• Require that differentiation be part of all staff

development• Link differentiation to observations, feedback,

peer review, mentoring, evaluations




PRINCIPALS SUPPORTING DI

• Capitalize on support from district-level administrators, curriculum supervisors or specialists, . . .

• Develop supervision techniques that motivate and recognize efforts to initiate and/or implement DI strategies

• Choose professional development opportunities that provide follow-up coaching and allows time to practice new skills




PRINCIPALS SUPPORTING DI• Build professional learning communities:

job-embedded learning, study groups, action research, peer coaching, collaborative planning and review of student work

• Effectively use faculty meetings and non-instructional time

• Serve as coach: provide/receive feedback, know role vs. evaluator, coaching practices




To support differentiation, leaders should

• Establish clarity of definition• Provide an environment supportive of risk• Balance “seeing the light” & “feeling the heat”• Differentiate for teachers• Provide guidance in beginning sensible and progressing steadily• Provide materials and time• Examine impact of current policies and practices• Communicate with parents• Begin with those ready to start• Develop planning and teaching teams which routinely include g/t, remedial and

special ed. Personnel• Start small, build local leadership• Re-focus / re-energize local leaders with experts• Integrate differentiation into curriculum development• Maintain long term commitment to change• Understand that differentiation is part of range of services – not a panacea!

Carol Tomlinson

• Provide building-level staff development that matches teacher / school goals (common experience)

• Provide time for on-going dialogue about differentiation – both site workdays, release time, faculty meetings

• Develop common understanding of differentiation and related terms• Observe and support teachers’ growth with specific feedback (peer and

admin)• Tenured teachers set different goals than new teachers• Give personal (yours, a specialist’s, an expert teacher’s) time and

support for modeling, mentoring, consulting, collaborating, and discussing

How to Assist Teachers in Professional Growth in

Differentiation




• A rationale for differentiation• Pre-assessing student readiness• Effective work with classroom groups• Flexible grouping• Resolving issues regarding grading / report cards• Role of the teacher in a differentiated classroom• Appropriate use of varied instructional strategies• Using concept-based instruction• Develop carefully focused tasks and products• Knowing how to teach struggling learners without “remedial

expectations”

In learning to differentiate, teachers may need help with . . .

Carol Tomlinson

LOOK-FORS in the Classroom

• Learning experiences are based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile.

• Assessment of student needs is ongoing, and tasks are adjusted based on assessment data.

• All students participate in respectful work.• The teacher is primarily a coordinator of time, space, and activities

rather than primarily a provider of group information.• Students work in a variety of groups configurations. Flexible grouping

is evident.• Time use is flexible in response to student needs.• The teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies to help target

instruction to student needs.• Clearly established criteria are used to help support student success.• Student strengths are emphasized.

Whatever it Takes!

Differentiating Instruction: Beginning the Journey "In the end, all learners need your energy, your heart and your mind. They have that in common because.

Documents

differentiated instruction

assessment information

study students

success students

learning style students

student readiness

concept students

students chart