Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach used in the classrooms at PS 144. Our principal, Reva Gluck-Schneider, was asked for a description of what this means. She said:

The following explanation of differentiated instruction comes from the Council for Exceptional Children. The wondrous discovery a simple Google search produces, is that you will find the same call for differentiation practices on sites providing information for Special Educators, General Educators and Gifted Educators. Knowing that our children come with many gifts and many needs allows us the freedom to explore differentiated teaching as a means for student success.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach in which teachers adapt their instruction to student differences. Rather than developing a curriculum aimed at the "common student," teachers modify their instruction to meeting individual student's readiness levels, preferences, and interests. Differentiated instruction recognizes the fact that we have a diverse student population and enables educators to teach students of varying abilities in one class.

Carol Tomlinson, professor at the University of Virginia, identifies four classroom elements that can be differentiated:

· Content: What the student needs to learn. The instructional concepts should be broad based, and all students should be given access to the same core content. However, the content's complexity should be adapted to students' learner profiles. Teachers can vary the presentation of content,( i.e., textbooks, lecture, demonstrations, taped texts) to best meet students' needs.

· Process: Activities in which the student engages to make sense of or master the content. Examples of differentiating process activities include scaffolding, flexible grouping, interest centers, manipulatives, varying the length of time for a student to master content, and encouraging an advanced learner to pursue a topic in greater depth.

· Products: The culminating projects that ask students to apply and extend what they have learned. Products should provide students with different ways to demonstrate their knowledge as well as various levels of difficulty, group or individual work, and various means of scoring.

· Learning Environment: The way the classroom works and feels. The differentiated classroom should include areas in which students can work quietly as well as collaborate with others, materials that reflect diverse cultures, and routines that allow students to get help when the teacher isn't available (Tomlinson, 1995, 1999; Winebrenner, 1992, 1996).

Guidelines and Strategies for Differentiated Learning

Determine key concepts and learning goals. The curriculum should be based on broad concepts, and teachers must have well-defined learning goals. Tomlinson recommends that teachers ensure that "curriculum is clearly focused on the information and understandings that are most valued by an expert in a particular discipline."

Link assessment to instruction. Assessment should be ongoing. With the data gleaned from assessment, teachers learn where students need additional instruction as well as determine direction for future instruction.

Implement flexible grouping. Teachers use whole-class, small-group, and individual instruction. Students can, and should, be grouped in a variety of ways based on readiness, interest, learning profiles, and randomly. Teachers can assign work groups, and sometimes students select their own work groups. The groups should change often.

Use a range of instructional strategies. In addition to planning instructional activities to meet student's learning readiness, all activities should be equally interesting and equally focused on essential understandings and skills. To make learning student-centered, the teacher should employ a wide variety of instructional strategies such as tiered activities, hands-on activities, text, scaffolding, and projects. Often students are provided with options in the instructional activities they engage in as well as in the final assessment tool.

Resources:

CAST: Universal Design for Learning, http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstruc.html  http://www.cec.sped.org/am/template.cfm?section=Home)