"Differentiation is
not really one entity, but rather synthesizes a number of educational theories
and practices. Bringing those theories and practices together helps teachers
address their classroom activity in a manner that is more holistic than fragmented...In
the end, classrooms are complex and messy places. Research that tells the full
story about any classroom, school, district, or approach to teaching is also
predictably messy, complex, difficult to come by, and nearly always equivocal.
Such is the nature of the teaching-learning enterprise."
Carol Ann Tomlinson and
Susan Demirsky Allan, Leadership for Differentiating Schools & Classrooms, 2000.
The terms
"differentiation", "rigor", "depth",
complexity" and even "personalized learning" are used so often
in educational literature that a few things can happen:
- The definition
of the terms and how to apply the concepts to the classroom can feel
overwhelming and complicated
- The definition
of the terms and how to apply the concepts to the classroom are made to be
too simplistic. How many times have we heard, "Differentiation
is just good teaching." So... now if I am not sure how to carry out
some differentiation I am embarrassed to ask for help because I have just
been told "it is just good teaching".
- The terms become
minimized due to overuse and lack of definition that teachers ignore the
concepts and/or hope the terms are just a fad that will just go away with
time.
With this in mind, the Eden
Prairie gifted specialists reviewed numerous articles/research on
differentiation and rigor. We spent time synthesizing the work from various
authors and leaders in the field. We developed common definitions and rubric
for our use. Our hope is that these would be common definitions for all
teachers in the district to use with all students, not just gifted learners.
"DI is mostly about
what we do ahead of time, not how we interact or conduct the lesson at the
time. There are some good aspects going on in the classroom, but that
facilitation can only occur with purposeful and thoughtful planning. I can make
flexible decisions because I've already prepared the resources or other avenues
in anticipation of student needs. Am I always prepared for everything? No way.
I get better with time, however."
Rick Wormeli, MiddleWeb
List Serve Response, "Getting Started with Differentiation", 2003.
Differentiation and adding
rigor can feel daunting...so many methods...what to choose...how to do it.
Quality differentiated instruction is rooted in meaningful curriculum. It is
very hard to differentiate or add rigor if the content is very basic - not
every piece of content could be or should be differentiated. Does the content
have concepts worth exploring at a deeper level? If no, then make sure the
students know the basic elements and move on. If yes, then this is where you
will have fun with differentiated instruction and rigor.
Ask yourself:
- What is the
essential learning? What do I want the students to be able to know,
understand, and do as a result of interacting with the
curriculum? Quality differentiation “teaches up” and ensures
“respectful tasks” (based on essential understandings, equally engaging,
requiring high level thought for all students).
- If you use a
pre-assessment what is it showing you about each learner and what do you
do next with that information? How does this information inform your
instruction? Flexible grouping strategies are heavily used in a
differentiated classroom.
- If you do not
have a pre-assessment - why not and can you develop one? Not using a
pre-assessment or not using the information from the pre-assessment can be
one of the biggest barriers to being able to differentiate the content.
When we don't find out what the students already know how can we ever
expect to bring forward meaningful content they can learn.
- Are there other
resources - text or online - that might enhance the content you use? It is
hard to differentiate if you "run out of content"; if you have
limited content and some students show you in the pre-assessment they already
know it ...now what? With online resources (for you and the students) this
should be less of an issue as it has been in the past but you still need
to think this through as you are planning the lesson/unit. Again, not
having enough sources of content or knowing how to expand the content you
have is a barrier to rigor and differentiation. Being prepared ahead of
time with your content options saves scrambling in the middle of a unit or
lesson for "more stuff" to support the struggling learner or the
advanced learner...or worse ignoring that some students need the content
in a different way altogether.
- What
strategies/tools can you use that will push you to use your content in a
deeper way? These resources include many familiar strategies used in EPS: Low Prep and High Prep Differentiation Strategies and Differentiated Instruction Strategies for Teachers
- Assessments both
formative and summative must always connect to the goals and objectives of
the student learning. "Differentiated assessment is an ongoing
process of evaluation where the teacher gathers information and data
before, during, and after instruction to better facilitate the learning.
This process ensures success for all students in the differentiated class
with data provided from a variety of sources assisting in giving an
overall view of student achievement. It is essential that when assessing
students in the differentiated class, assessment is authentic meaning it
offers students a variety of tasks demonstration real-life skills, tells
the educator if the student has acquired the skills or concepts, is based
on standard criteria to achieve validity, and guides students for roles in
adult life (Chapman & King, 2012).” Differentiated
Strategies Wikispaces. http://differentiatedstrategies.wikispaces.com/Differentiated+Strategies+for+Assessment
“Differentiation is making
sure that the right students get the right learning tasks at the right
time. Once you have a sense of what each student holds as “given” or
“known” and what he or she needs in order to learn, differentiation is no
longer an option; it is an obvious response.”
Lorna M.
Earl, Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize
Student Learning, 2003
Sue Feigal-Hitch
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