An Overview and Conversation

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Curriculum Differentiation A Framework for
Systematizing the Process for ALL Students
An Overview and Conversation
Jeanne H. Purcell, Ph.D Connecticut State
Department of Education jeanne.purcell_at_po.state.ct
.us
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Curriculum DifferentiationTodays Agenda

• Is curriculum differentiation something new?
• What are the goals for curriculum
  differentiation?
• What are the decision-making steps in the
  curriculum differentiation process?
• What is curriculum differentiation?
• How can we modify the 10 key curriculum
  componentseither singly or in combinationto
  address critical learner differences?

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Introductions and Greetings

• Names
• Places
• Roles
• Experience
• Reasons for Attending
• Prior knowledge with PCM

4
An Historical PerspectiveIs This a New Concept?
A New Pedagogy?

• Fourth Wave of Interest Since 1860
• Tutors (Pre 1860)
• One Room Schoolhouse
• Grade Levels
• Individualization
• Special Education
• Gifted Education
• Differentiation

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Why the Current Interest? Why the Present
Initiative?

• International Comparisons
• Information Age
• Global Economy
• Standards Movement
• NCLB
• The Achievement Gap
• Prisoners of Time
• IDEA

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The Learning Gap
Learning Gaps Persist In State Mastery Test
Scores Edge Up, But Blacks, Hispanics, Poor Lag
BehindMarch 6, 2004 By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant
Staff Writer Black and Hispanic children
continue to make slow, steady gains in academic
performance but still lag far behind most
Connecticut public school students, new test
results show. Only 25 percent of black and
Hispanic children reach the state's fourth-grade
reading goal, for example, compared with more
than 70 percent of white students, according to
Connecticut Mastery Test scores being released
today. Overall scores edged upward, but the
test, which reached greater numbers of special
education and non-English speaking students this
year, identifies one in five of Connecticut's
fourth-graders as a poor reader. Aside from
the poor performance of many blacks and
Hispanics, major learning gaps persist among
non-English speakers and the poor. And the
latest scores show that boys lag well behind
girls in writing skills on the annual exam, the
state's chief measure of academic progress.
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What is the Learning GAP?

• Rich and poor
• ESL and Native English speakers
• Special education and regular education
• Regular education and gifted education
• Culturally diverse and majority students
• Motivated and unmotivated
• Boys and girls
• College track and vocational education track
• American students and their global counterparts
  (TIMSS)

"The stakes for underdevelopment in 2000 are much
high than they were in 1900."     Edmund W.
Gordon, professor emeritus, Yale University
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The GAP
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Critical Student Differences We Can Attend

• ACADEMIC
• Prior knowledge
• Reading level
• Core content
• Concepts/skills

• COGNITIVE
• Developmental readiness
• Schemas
• Working memory
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate

• SOC/EMOT
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation
• Self-efficacy

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One Line of Thinking
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One Way to Reduce the Gap
D E P T H
BREADT
KEY CURRICULUM COMPONENTS
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Future Interest in Differentiation?

• Ten Trends Educating Children for a Profoundly
  Different Future

Marx, G. (Ed).(2000). Arlington VA Educational
Research Service
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TREND 2 We have a new look.

• The country will become a nation of minorities.

• Seated side-by-side
• Students with learning disabilities and reading
  difficulties
• Highly advanced learners
• English language learners
• Students who underachieve
• Students from diverse cultures
• Students from diverse economic circumstances
• Students with varying degrees of motivation,
  interests, skills, etc.

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TREND 4 One size doesnt fit all.

• Education will shift from averages
• to individuals

• Id like to be able to say that our job is just
  to get the kids to learn new things, think
  better, and be smarter.
• But in the bigger picture, learning is about what
  we at the Met call the three Rs relationships,
  relevance, and rigor.
• You cannot have a relationship with, make things
  relevant for, or expect rigor from a kid you
  dont know.

Littky, D. (2004). The big picture. Alexandria,
VA ASCD.
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Important Notes About Students with Disabilities

• Ninety-six percent of general education teachers
  educate students with disabilities.
• On average, there are 3-4 students with IEPs
  integrated into each classroom.
• Three of four students with disabilities spent
  40 or more of their day in general education
  classrooms.

U.S. Department of Education (2001). 23rd annual
report to Congress on the implementation of the
Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA).
Washington, DC U.S. Government Printing Office.
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Why differentiate? What do we want? What goals
are we trying to achieve?

• Increase academic learning decrease learning
  gaps
• Improve student self-efficacy for learning
• Enhance intrinsic motivation for learning
• Promote self-directed learning behaviors

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Glenna

• Glenna is always one of the most sought-after
  girls in her freshman class. She is outgoing,
  attractive, and energetic. One always knows when
  she is in the corridor because her warm, peeling
  laughter distinguishes her from all the other
  students. At the end of the day, she is
  invariably on her cell phone.
• Yet, Glenna struggles in school. What many do
  not know is that Glenna has trouble with reading
  and has a learning disability. Although a few of
  her teachers are puzzled by the difficulties she
  experiences understanding reading materials and
  talk about her informally in the teachers room,
  no one has ever referred her for a formal
  evaluation and diagnosis.
• She has always been able to get by before, but
  now that she is in high school, she is using more
  sophisticated texts. Secretly, Glenna worries
  about not being able to keep up with the rest of
  her classmates. How could she tell everyone that
  she is having trouble? Who will listen to her?
  Why cant I get it, she worries to herself.

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Todd

• When Todd looks back at his childhood, he
  recognizes that it was complicated by many
  factors. His parents separated when he was
  young, and he has not been in touch with his
  father since before kindergarten. In addition,
  as much as he looks up to his siblings and
  receives positive encouragement from them, Todd
  mentions that one older sibling has a physical
  disability and another struggles with bipolar
  disorder. Dealing with such physical and
  psychological difficulties significantly
  contributes to the stress his family experiences
  at home. He says that he has experienced a lot
  of turmoil and has had to grow up quickly as a
  result.
• Todd was identified as gifted and talented in
  elementary school. As he reflects on that time,
  he remembers enjoying these programs because he
  felt more challenged and because he remembers
  being with students of similar ability levels.
  Through junior high and high school, he took
  advantage of course acceleration and honors
  courses and now says that he has had good
  teachers at the schools he has attended.
• However, things changed for Todd early in his
  high school career when he got into a fight and
  subsequently felt he was no longer welcome at
  school. Complicating the situation, two of
  Todds older siblings had been expelled from the
  same high school. This only furthered Todds
  feeling of alienation, especially by the schools
  administration. Looking to escape his seeming
  negative reputation, Todd decided to seek a fresh
  start at the alternative school in his town.

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Maria

• In her acceptance speech as a recipient of a
  nationally sponsored award for high school
  students, Maria, a senior at Rolling Hills High
  School in California, spoke eloquently of the
  challenges that many gifted students in isolated
  areas face
• Living on an Indian Reservation, one is
  constantly exposed to negativity, violence and
  drug abuse. I am not like anyone in my
  neighborhood and not even like the rest of my
  family. I am determined to make something of my
  life, not flipping burgers or picking fruits in
  someone elses field. I wont mimic my cousins
  who married young and got pregnant. I am very
  different! I have always taken the harder path to
  improve myself. I work hard so I will be able to
  give my parents all the things they never had. .
  . . My father always tells me, Trabaja duro y
  así vas a poder llegar muy alto y realizar tus
  sueños (If you work hard, you will go far and
  will be able to realize your dreams.). My
  fathers words guide me to achieve my
  aspirations, even though I sometimes feel
  insecure, frightened by where my life will lead.
  I will succeed!
• Marias drive and determination to attend college
  and become a pediatrician or a psychologist are
  matched only by her academic talents and interest
  in learning. Her science teacher commented that,
  to say she is a fantastic student is to say Joe
  Montana was just a good football player. Her
  quest for knowledge became even more apparent
  when her home was destroyed by a raging wildfire
  in the fall of her senior year. Rushing with her
  family out of the building to safety, Maria
  grabbed her books because she didnt want to fall
  behind in school.

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When Classes Move Too Quickly

• I dont understand this. How can I ever ask a
  question?
• Man, this is so stupid!
• Who cares? When will I ever use this stuff
  anyway?
• I get mad.
• After a while, I give up and doodle on my paper.
• I stop paying attention and daydream. Its not
  worth it anymore.
• I dont like this subject anyway.
• I wish I was smart like the other kids.

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When Classes Move Too Slowly

• I read ahead in the book.
• I make up my weekend plans with my friends!
• I plan out my day.
• I figure out what to get my friends for their
  birthdays.
• I listen to music in my head.
• I try to remember all the funny parts to my
  favorite movies.
• I write poetry.
• I color my nails with my pen.
• I tattoo myself with my pen.

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A Technical Definition of Curriculum
Differentiation

• Curriculum differentiation is a process
  teachers use to enhance student learning by
  matching various curriculum components to
  characteristics shared by subgroups of learners
  in the classroom (e.g., learning style
  preferences, interests, prior knowledge, learning
  rate).
• The most effective and efficient
  differentiation practices involve proactive
  changes in the depth or breadth of student
  learning. Differentiation is enhanced with the
  use of appropriate classroom orientation and
  management, varied pedagogy, preassessment,
  flexible small groups, access to professional
  development opportunities and related support
  personnel, and the availability of appropriate
  resources.

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THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

• CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• INITIAL INSTRUCTION
• PREASSESSMENT
• DIAGNOSIS

What are the CRITICAL DIFFERENCES in my students?
How can I MODIFY one or more of the 10 curriculum
components to address difference?
CHOICE ALTERNATIVES Adjusting the Breadth
TIERING Adjusting the Depth
MANAGEMENT OF FLEXIBLE, SMALL GROUPS
POST ASSESSMENT
MEASURE THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENTIATION
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The 10 Curriculum Components An Advance Organizer

• CONTENT
• ASSESSMENT
• Grouping
• Introduction
• Teaching Methods

• Learning Activities
• Products
• Resources
• Extensions
• Time

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Content Knowledge/Standards



Definition Broad statements about the knowledge
that we want all students to
acquire Purpose To communicate learning
expectations and the lessons focal point to
teachers, students, and interested others to
promote academic achievement to ensure
equity Characteristics Clear, powerful,
developmentally appropriate, authentic,
aligned with other curriculum components









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Content Problems That Exist in the Content of
Some Curriculum Units

• Marketing appeal
• Bitting
• Coverage
• Fact-filled
• Poorly alignment with other
• curriculum components
• Mention and move on
• Patchwork quilt
• Activity-Oriented

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What is essential or core content?

• Fundamental knowledge in a discipline
• Knowledge that reveals the nature of a discipline
• Knowledge that is a constant within any
  discipline-related topic
• Knowledge that provides a scaffold for novice and
  expert learners
• Knowledge that spirals throughout the continuum
  of expertise
• Knowledge that is of service to children and
  adults
• Knowledge that adults decide children should
  learn

This term does not refer to fundamental
knowledge valued within a culture or to the basic
survival skills
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Epistemology The Study of Knowledge

The Branches of Knowledge
The Disciplines
Discipline Knowledge


Each discipline may contain multiple fields of
study.


Representative Topics

Each field of study may use knowledge from
multiple disciplines.
The Fields of Study



K-12 Content Spiral
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Discipline Based Knowledge
THEORY
Activities, cognitive processes, tools,
techniques,resources,and products
Representative topics
GENERALIZATIONS
PRINCIPLES
CONCEPTS
FACTS
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Categorizing Content in Standards
Facts A fact is a specific detail, verifiable
information, or characteristics about a
particular object, person, or event.
PARTICULARS Concepts A concept is a general
idea or abstraction, especially a generalized
idea of a thing or class of things a category
or classification. VOCAB WORDS Principles A
principle is an underlying truth, law, or rule,
that explains the relationship between two or
more concepts. HOW THINGS WORK Generalizations
A generalization is a statement that explains or
describes a category of things or ideas. FAT
FACT Skills Skill is a proficiency, ability,
technique, strategy, method, or tool. HOW
TO Attitudes Inclinations, beliefs, state of
mind, appreciations, dispositions, efficacy
VALUES Applications The ability to
generalize and transfer knowledge to familiar and
novel contexts PROBLEM SOLVING
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What is a representative topic?

• A representative topic is specific subject
  matter that is selected purposefully as a focus
  for teaching and learning because of the topics
  potential for illuminating the essential
  concepts, principles, and skills in a related
  discipline for students of a specific
  developmental level.

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How Can We Use Content to Differentiate
Instruction?

• CONTENT MODIFICATIONS
• Its not about giving facts to the students who
  have little experience with knowledge and
  concepts and principles to the top students.
  Its about using preassessment data to tie
  teaching to existing schemas and teaching
  concepts to everyone (TIMMS).
• Increase/Decrease the abstractness of the
  representative topic
• Change the representative topic to something more
  familiar/less familiar
• Change the representative topic (i.e., within the
  discipline, across disciplines, time periods,
  people, or events)
• Offer the opportunity to explore an application,
  the methodology of a field, or the lives of
  contributor (s) in a field
• Provide background information about a
  representative topic
• Break the representative topic into smaller parts
• Provide more/fewer examples offer choice
• Offer students the opportunity to explore related
  representative topics
• Identify and address students misconceptions

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Social and Emotional
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

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8th Grade Social Studies
Content Standard 4 Students will recognize the
continuing importance of historical thinking and
the role of historical knowledge in their own
lives an in the world in which they live.

• EXAMPLE 1
• Ms. Kahlid realized that it was important for her
  students to understand the role of the
  archeologist. These researchers played a key
  role in helping historians recover the stories of
  ancient civilizations. Every year, she assigned
  students to look over the page in their textbook
  called, A Moment in Time The Anthropologist.
  It showed a picture of a woman studying a coal
  mine in West Virginia. The picture illuminated
  her tools a notebook, a camera, a lantern, her
  shoulder bag and lunch pail. Ms. Swift made a
  point to review this picture with her students
  the next day in class and answered any questions
  they had about anthropologists.

• EXAMPLE 2
• Ms.Budzinsky, an 8th grade social studies
  teacher, had looked forward to her trip to Peru
  for many years. Way in advance, she had decided
  to bring back a collection of 50-100 inexpensive
  artifacts. She made a point to collect items
  that reflected the family life, technology, and
  art of this South American culture inexpensive
  musical instruments, inexpensive pottery,
  articles of clothing, some books, kitchen
  utensils, childrens inexpensive games,
  band-aids, and the like.
• Upon her return, she used the artifacts in her
  social studies class to help students understand
  the role of the archeologist and historian. She
  grouped the artifacts around the three aspects of
  culture. Then, she asked students to form small
  groups of scientists and researchers around the
  artifact cluster of their choice.. She asked
  students to infer the culture of this ancient
  South American society.

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11th Grade Chemistry
CT 15.9-12.4 Recognize that the ability of a
reaction to occur and the extent to which is
proceeds depends upon the relative stability of
the reactants compared to the products and the
conditions under which the reaction occurs.

• EXAMPLE 2
• Mr. Luther knew at the outset of his chemistry
  unit on reaction rates that he had students who
  not only had different levels of prior knowledge
  about aspects of chemistry, but also learned more
  quickly than others in the class. He decided to
  provide most of his students with a hands-on lab
  that helped students understand that there is a
  direct relationship between the concentration of
  an acid and the reaction rate.
• He provided the remaining students with the same
  metal and solutions as the other group, but
  invited them to find the ideal conditions for the
  fastest reaction time.

• EXAMPLE 1
• Ms. Barnes prepared for the lab on simple
  reactions between metals and acids. At the
  conclusion of the experiment, she wanted students
  to understand that there is a direct relationship
  between the concentration of an acid and the
  reaction rate. To help them understand this
  important direct relationship, she set up
  different test stations for students to observe.
  Each station had the same mass of a given metal.
  Each of the containers held increasing
  concentrations of HCl. Students had to combine
  the reactants and analyze the data for trends in
  the reaction rates.

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Making Lab Activities More Open-Ended

• Who decides the question?
• Who decides the procedure?
• Who decides what to observe and data to collect?
• Who decides the response?
• Who decides the format for communicating the
  results?

http//www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/worksho
p/lab_activities.html
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Grade 11 U.S. History
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the rights
and responsibilities of citizens to participate
in and shape public policy, and contribute to the
maintenance of our democratic way of life. .

• EXAMPLE 2
• As she began the unit on the Constitution and
  the Bill of Rights, Ms. Polanski realized that
  she had students with widely differing reading
  abilities in her classrooms. She designed a
  simple plan to scaffold for her students.
• She divided her class into two groups based upon
  her knowledge of their reading comprehension.
  For the first group of learners, she developed a
  one sheet, two-column table that listed each of
  the 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights in the
  left-hand column and definitions of troublesome
  words in the right-hand column. Using this
  information, students were asked to write down
  their own understanding of the meaning of the
  first ten amendments.
• Ms. Polanski provided her second group of
  readers with the original text of each amendment
  and asked them to derive, in their own words, the
  meaning of each.
• At the conclusion of the lesson, students
  reconvened as a whole group to share their new
  understandings about the Bill of Rights.

• EXAMPLE 1
• Mr. Todd loved teaching his students about the
  Constitution. He especially liked the
  simulations he had collected over his career that
  dealt with the debates that occurred between the
  Federalists and the Antifederalists over the
  ratification of the Constitution. Another of his
  favorites was the interdisciplinary, culminating
  activity in which students were required to take
  on the role of a responsible citizen and voice
  their opinion about a local matter. Each had to
  compose a letter to the editor of a local
  newspaper and express their opinion about a
  community issue.

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Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert
Frost Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village thoughHe will not
see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up
with snow. My little horse must think it queerTo
stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods
and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if
there is some mistake.The only other sound's the
sweepOf easy wind and downy flake. The woods
are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to
keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles
to go before I sleep.
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Its Your Turn

• Content Standard 1 Reading and Responding
• 1.9-10.12 Students will use the literary
  elements (theme, symbolism, imagery, etc.) to
  draw conclusions about a text
• 1.9-10.13 Students will understand that a single
  text may elicit a wide variety of responses

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10th Grade American Lit
Content Standard 1 Reading and
Responding 1.9-10.12 Students will use the
literary elements (theme, symbolism, imagery,
etc.) to draw conclusions about a text 1.9-10.13
Students will understand that a single text may
elicit a wide variety of responses

• EXAMPLE 1
• Mr. Johnson spent a bit more than a week on
  Robert Frosts poetry, including Stopping By
  Woods on a Snowy Evening. He wanted his
  students to appreciate the down homeness of
  Frosts poetry. He had students read selected
  poems aloud to appreciate the sounds and cadence
  of each selection. With respect to Stopping,
  he asked students to write responses to the
  following questions
• How do you interpret the speakers attraction to
  the woods?
• What do the last three lines suggest about
  everyones life? Why did Frost repeat the last
  line? What is the effect of the repetition?

• EXAMPLE 2
• Ms. Mody wanted her students to understand that
  poetry can evoke many viable interpretations from
  the skillful use of literary elements by the
  author. At the same time, she knew that her
  juniors were at very different levels with
  respect to abstract thought. For one group of
  learners, she provided a list of symbols (the
  owner of the land, the horse, the woods.
  promises, sleep), some possible interpretations
  for each, and asked them to interpret the poem
  from their point of view in a one-page essay.
  For a second group of learners, she provided the
  poem only. She asked them to identify the
  symbols, think about how they interact within the
  poem, and generate a reflective essay about its
  meaning to their lives. She provided the third
  group of students with a copy of the poem and
  carefully selected quotations by Frost reflecting
  on his art. She asked them to select one or two
  of Frosts quotations and explain,in a short
  essay, how there can be so many irreconcilable
  interpretations of Stopping, the poem that
  Frost called his best bid for remembrance.

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Selected Quotations

• It should be the pleasure of a poem itself to
  tell how it can. The figure a poem makes. It
  begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The Figure
  a Poem Makes, 1939
• Metaphor saying one thing and meaning another,
  saying one thing in terms of another, the
  pleasure of ulteriority. Poetry is simply made
  of metaphor. The Constant Symbol, 1946
• Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must
  ride on its own melting. The Figure a Poem
  Makes, 1939

Ulteriority Lying beyond what is evident or
revealed)
41
(No Transcript)
42
Assessments



Definition Varied tools, technique, and criteria
teachers use to measure students content
expertise Purpose To ascertain the extent to
which students have attained the knowledge
contained within the learning goal(s), to make
decisions about future areas of
emphasis Characteristics Aligned with the
learning goal, reliable, valid, varied,
efficient, equitable, motivating, have a low
baseline and a high ceiling









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The Assessment Equation

• PARTICIPANT
• TASK/FORMAT
• KNOWLEDGE
• COGNITIVE PROCESSING
• ASSESSMENT

44
Sample Assessment Formats
45
Discipline Based Knowledge
THEORY
Activities, cognitive processes, tools,
techniques,resources,and products
Representative topics
GENERALIZATIONS
PRINCIPLES
CONCEPTS
FACTS
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Knowledge and Process Options

• Cognitive Processes
• Recall
• Find a relationship
• Sort
• Compare
• Make an analogy
• Decide
• Critique
• Provide an alternative prospective
• Problem solve
• Create
• Appreciate

• Content Knowledge
• Facts
• Concepts
• Themes
• Principles
• Basic Skills
• Cognitive Skills
• Methodological Skills
• Applications
• Attitudes
• Generalizations
• Transformations

47
The Thinking-Learning-Assessment Connection
Analytic
Critical
Practical
Creative
48
Thinking-Learning Activities Analysis

• Draw Conclusions
• Infer
• Inductive Reasoning
• Deductive Reasoning

• Make an Observation
• Find Similarities and Differences
• Compare and Contrast
• Sequence, Rank, Prioritize
• Categorize
• Classify
• Predict
• Look for Patterns and Relationships
• Find Cause and Effect
• Make an Analogy

49
Thinking-Learning ActivitiesCritical

• Critique
• Evaluate
• Judge
• Persuade
• Argue

• Detect Fact and Opinion
• Determine Bias
• Determine Credibility of a Source
• Identify Assumptions
• Detect Warranted and Unwarranted Claims
• Determine the Strength of an Argument
• Identify Fallacies

50
Thinking-Learning Activities Practical
Question Decide Plan Problem Solve

• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Planning
• Decision Making
• Hypothesizing
• Formulating Questions
• Criteria Setting

51
Thinking-Learning ActivitiesCreative

• Design
• Innovate
• Invent
• Develop
• Improve

• Fluency
• Flexibility
• Originality
• Elaboration
• Brainstorming
• Creative Problem Solving
• Synectics

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The purpose of assessment in a differentiation
initiative is fivefold

• To identify the characteristics of an individual
  student that can impact their learning and
  achievement
• To assess prior knowledge, experiences, and
  preconceptions
• To monitor learning progress over time
• (honest AYP)
• 4. To support teachers problem solving and
  decision making
• 5. To measure the impact of a DI initiative or
  specific DI strategies

53
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASSESSMENT AND CURRICULUM
STANDARDS Content Knowledge
PREASSESSMENT and resulting modifications, if
warranted, are based upon critical differences
among students
TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES, FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENTS AND FEEDBACK
ON-GOING POST ASSESSMENT
54
There are at least a dozen different assessment
strategies that teachers use to support
assessment that leads to differentiation

• Learner profiles
• Pre assessments
• Mirrored post assessments
• Trait rubrics
• Proficiency levels
• System for recording and
• reviewing individual
• student information

• 7. Individual conferences
• 8. Concept mapping
• 9. Problem-based assessment
• 10. Open-ended tasks
• 11. Student and teacher reflections
• 12. Charting longitudinal progress

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Pre-Assessments

• Sample the key content in the unit
• Mirror the post assessment
• Contain a low baseline
• Align with district or state proficiency levels
  for end of unit
• Are closely tied to the content learning
  objectives
• Can be efficiently scored
• Support decision making
• Inform students of the purpose

56
Formative Assessments

• Are closely tied to the content students are
  learning
• Can be spontaneous or planned
• May be formal or informal
• Can cause critical teacher insights into student
  learning and/or misconceptions
• Require careful observation and reflection
• Support decision making regarding instruction

57
Post Assessments

• Are like a rear view mirror of the pre-assessment
• Contain a high ceiling
• Assess content, skills, and strategies
• Focus on application of knowledge to novel
  situations
• Couple with trait rubrics
• Include opportunities for personal reflections
• Can be used to calculate gain scores

58
Frequently Asked Questions

• Why should I use a preassessment if I havent
  taught anything yet?
• Doesnt this take too much time?
• Wont the kids be upset if they dont know the
  information on the preassessment?
• How do you find time for this?
• Where do I get the assessments?
• Do I grade them?
• Should I teach before I give the preassessment?
• Should I tell anybody about the results?

59
How Can Assessment Help Us to Differentiate Our
Instruction?

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Affective Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

• ASSESSSMENT
• Use well-aligned pr-eassessments and
  pre-assessment data to monitor and communicate
  growth
• Align assessment datapre, post and ongoingwith
  instructional components to ensure impact on
  achievement
• Use gain scores to determine how individual
  students are progressing with the acquisition of
  content
• Use trait rubrics rather than holistic scoring to
  illuminate student learning gains and
  misconceptions/gaps
• Offer students alternative product formats to
  demonstrate their understanding (e.g., written,
  kinesthetic, visual, multi-media)
• Provide for self-assessment

60
The MOST important thing about assessmentsfor
differentiation is that it .

• Focuses on the individual
• Measures prior knowledge
• Assesses progress over time
• Informs modifications, options, decision making,
  and planning
• All of the above

61
Trait Rubrics for DI Assessment
62
Best Practices for Trait Rubrics

• Link to unit learning objectives.
• Weigh the most important content or processes.
• Use research to identify the traits.
• Find the main ideas for each trait.
• Describe ascending levels of expertise by
  modifying the adjectives or adverbs that modify
  the same characteristics for each trait.
• Consider a kid-talk version.
• Provide teachers with an anchor set of work
  samples.
• Support effective use with team conversations.

63
Example Sentence Fluency

• 5 The writing has an easy flow, rhythm,
  and cadence. Sentences are well
• built, with strong and varied structure
  that invites expressive oral reading.
• A. Sentences are constructed in a way that
  underscores and enhances the meaning.
• B. Sentences vary in length as well as
  structure. Fragments, if used, add style.
  Dialogue, if present, sounds natural.
• C. Purposeful and varied sentence beginnings add
  variety and energy.
• D. The use of creative and appropriate
  connectives between sentences and thoughts shows
  how each relates to, and builds upon, the one
  before it.
• E. The writing has cadence the writer has
  thought about the sound of the words as well as
  the meaning. The first time you read it aloud is
  a breeze.
• 4 The text hums along with a steady beat, but
  tends to be more pleasant or
• businesslike than musical, more mechanical than
  fluid.
• A. Although sentences may not seem artfully
  crafted or musical, they get the job done in a
  routine fashion.
• B. Sentences are usually constructed correctly
  they hang together they are sound.
• C. Sentence beginnings are not ALL alike some
  variety is attempted.
• D. The reader sometimes has to hunt for clues
  (e.g., connecting words and phrases like however,
  therefore, naturally, after a while, on the other
  hand, to be specific, for example, next, first of
  all, later, but as it turned out, although, etc.)
  that show how sentences interrelate.
• E. Parts of the text invite expressive oral
  reading others may be stiff, awkward, choppy, or
  gangly.

64
Six Trait Rubric NWREL.org

• 3 The reader has to practice quite a bit in order
  to give this paper a fair interpretive reading.
  The writing reflects more than one of the
  following problems
• A. Sentences are choppy, incomplete, rambling or
  awkward they need work. Phrasing does not sound
  natural. The patterns may create a sing-song
  rhythm, or a chop-chop cadence that lulls the
  reader to sleep.
• B. There is little to no sentence sense
  present. Even if this piece was flawlessly
  edited, the sentences would not hang together.
• C. Many sentences begin the same wayand may
  follow the same patterns (e.g.,
  subject-verb-object) ina monotonous pattern.
• D. Endless connectives (and, and so, but then,
  because, and then, etc.) or a complete lack of
  connectives create a massive jumble of language.
• E. The text does not invite expressive oral
  reading.

65
Example A Trait Rubric for Reading Math Problems
in Grade 3

• Is this a concept or a skill?
• What are the traits associated with this
  objective?
• What are the characteristics of a performance
  that demonstrates grade level expectations?
• What are the characteristics of a performance
  that demonstrates above/below grade level
  expectations?

• Skill
• Vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, strategy
• Related concepts are known
• Slow and deliberate speed
• Occasional rereading
• Can identify the problem
• May infer the need to use a familiar algorithm
• Sometimes checks assumptions
• Sometimes makes connections to prior learning

66
Math Word Problems
67
Proficiency Levels

• Objective-referenced, not norm-referenced.
• Purpose is to measure, evaluate, and communicate
  growth over time, not rank students in
  relationship to other students
• Stresses the development of expertise
• Equated to local, state, or NAEP levels
• Respectful wording
• Vocabulary is understood by teachers, students,
  and parents
• Leads to decision making and planning

68
Examples AssessmentStandard Student will
develop a healthy eating plan

• EXAMPLE 2
• Student will design a daily diet for one week
  that is based on the U.S. dietary guidelines. In
  several paragraphs, the student will explain how
  his/her plan adheres to the guidelines (pre and
  post).

• EXAMPLE 1
• The student will design and construct a collage
  of the seven different food groups.

69
Rubrics Essential Assessment Instruments
Sample Rubric Health Performance Standard Plan
and select a nutritious daily diet based on U.S.
dietary guidelines.
70
Grouping Strategies


Definition The varied approaches to arranging
students for effective learning in the
classroom Purpose To enhance the depth or
breadth of student learning to promote
reflection, to address student differences to
provide teachers with opportunities to observe
students in varied settings to provide
students with opportunities to work in varied
settings that nurture their unique abilities
and talents to minimize heterogeneity, to make
learning more efficient Characteristics
Aligned with the content goals, teaching
methods and students learning needs
varied










71
Examples of Grouping Formats
72
Other Options

• Homogeneous
• Heterogeneous
• Cross Grade Grouping
• Cluster
• Interest-based
• Across Class

73
How Can We Use Grouping Formats to Support
Differentiation?

• GROUPING
• Avoid the one-size-fits-all model of curriculum
  and instruction
• Teach to small groups to address learners
  academic and cognitive differences
• Use a variety of factors to group students
• Locate contracts and centers to deliver and
  manage small group learning
• Develop in-class extensions around the interests
  of individuals and small groups of students
• Provide opportunities for students to work in
  small groups or individually to pursue their own
  questions
• Provide opportunities for students to present
  their work to small groups of peers
• Offer after-school clubs and Power Hour
  programs to address students interests and
  learning needs

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Cognitive Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

74
Grouping World LanguagePerformance standard
(9-12) Students will analyze various elements
of the target language (such as tense) and
compare and contrast them with comparable
linguistic elements in English

• EXAMPLE 2
• In a series of skill lessons, Madame Cailliard
  emphasized the formation of the future tense for
  her French students. One group, challenged by
  the formation of this tense, worked in a small
  group to supply the correct verb form for simple
  sentences, written in French, that contained
  regular verbs. Another group, with greater
  familiarity and proficiency, worked on a similar
  exercise. Their sentences were more complex and
  contained a number of irregular verb forms. A
  final group worked on a skill sheet that
  contained complex sentences in English only and
  needed translation. The English sentences
  contained a variety of irregular verb forms. Two
  students did not need practice in the formation
  of the future tense. These two students worked
  collaboratively to tape record an advertisement
  for a self-selected French product.

• EXAMPLE 1
• Students work as a whole class to complete
  several worksheets related to the formation of
  the future tense in French

75
Introductory Activities




Definition A forward or segue to a curriculum
unit the first interaction between the
student and the ideas contained within the
curriculum unit Purpose To introduce,
challenge, orient, preassess, motivate,
provide students with a rationale, provide
clarity about learning expectations, to
increase students cognitive engagement, or
provide rules and guidelines Characteristics
Purposeful, enlightening, motivational,
useful, aligned with other curriculum
components








76
The Introduction Six Features

• I Interrogative focusing question
• N Needs assessment preassessment
• T Teaser or hook
• R Rationale
• O Objectives, expectations
• S Students schemas and interests

77
How Can We Use Introductions to Support
Differentiation?

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Affective Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

• INTRODUCTIONS
• Ensure introductions are included in the teaching
  sequence
• Ensure that a preassessment is completed and that
  preassessment data has been analyzed and linked
  to forthcoming instruction
• Ask students to complete a concept map to uncover
  prior knowledge and misconceptions
• Provide an advanced organizer
• Use a discrepant event to heighten interest and
  motivation
• Use community resources to demonstrate relevance
• Develop developmentally appropriate guiding
  questions

78
Examples IntroductionsContent Standard
Students will demonstrate knowledge of major
trends in state and local history, including
history of original people

• EXAMPLE 1
• After students read the chapter title (The First
  People of the Americas) ask them to describe in
  one word the culture that existed in America in
  AD 1200 (varied, old, active).

• EXAMPLE 2
• Students were provided with copies of an original
  map of Native American Indian tribes in
  Connecticut, as well as the goals and purposes of
  the unit and a timeline for its completion. The
  teacher knew that her students liked to learn by
  listening, so she made arrangements for a local
  archeologist to kick off the unit. The
  archeologist brought artifacts with her that were
  collected from a recent archeological dig nearby.

79
Introduction AP PhysicsContent Standard (9-12)
Knows that the laws of motion can be used to
determine the effects of forces on the motion of
objects

• EXAMPLE 1
• Ms. Garner asked her students to
• Pre-read the chapter on oscillation from their AP
  physics textbook
• Experiment with pendulums of different lengths
  and derive the relationship between the frequency
  and length
• Listen to the teacher and discuss the theory
  behind pendulums and oscillation
• Watch as the teacher derived the equation on the
  board
• Work through, in small groups, based on student
  choice, a related set of problems
• Complete a lab, in heterogeneous groups, to
  confirm that the equation provided earlier was
  correct.

80
Introduction AP PhysicsContent Standard (9-12)
Knows that the laws of motion can be used to
determine the effects of forces on the motion of
objects

• EXAMPLE 2
• Ms Hetrick
• Led off the unit with a video clip of Galloping
  Gertie (www.ketchum.org/bridgecollapse.html), the
  collapse of the Tacaoma Narrows Bridge. She asked
  student, in small groups, to hypothesize what
  caused the bridge to collapse and then recorded
  their preliminary responses on flip chart paper,
  which she subsequently hung on the wall. She
  also shared the unit objectives and guiding
  questions to help students focus their learning.
• Provided students with string, an object of mass,
  and different DVDs. She asked students to make
  the pendulum swing to the music. For one group
  of students she provided some initial hints about
  the length of the string and provided explicit
  feedback when they asked questions. For another
  group of students, she provided only questions to
  help students make connections between their
  current level of thinking and the lab activities
  e.g., What might increase the frequency of the
  pendulum?
• Reconvened students and together they explored
  Hookes law and how it could be adapted to
  reflect the motion of simple pendulums that swing
  back and forth at small amplitudes, less than 15
  degrees.
• Invited students to complete related problems in
  small, heterogeneous groups. Some students did
  the odd numbered problems other did the even
  numbered problems. Students took turns sharing
  the strategies they used to solve the problems.
  She made a point to explore student errors and
  dialogue with students about their
  misconceptions.
• Provided students with real-world application of
  mechanical oscillation.
• .
• .
• Toward the end of the unit, she provided students
  with two additional activities. She had them
  view a web site that chronicled the shattering of
  a crystal glass by a human voice
  http//www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-81692_Man_S
  hatters_Glass_With_Voice.html . Next, she
  re-played the video about Galloping Gertie. She
  asked students, in small groups, to talk about
  how the two events were similar. Then, she
  revisited the flip chart paper and asked students
  to revisit their hypotheses and make any their
  original thinking about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
  collapse.

81
Teaching Strategies


Definition Activities designed and/or conducted
by the teacher in order to explicitly or
implicitly provide students with the
information, challenge, support, and on-going
experiences they need to process knowledge and
improve performance related to the lessons
learning goal (s) Purpose To mediate
learning, increase the likelihood of student
success and self-directed learning, promote
cognitive processing, rehearsal, and transfer.
Characteristics Aligned with the content and
students learning needs, varied, motivating,
promote cognitive engagement










82
The Teaching Strategies Continuum
Direct

• Lecture
• Drill and recitation
• Direct instruction
• Strategy-based instruction
• Coaching
• Concept attainment
• Synectics
• Demonstration
• Socratic Questioning
• Visualization

• Role playing
• Cooperative learning
• Jurisprudence
• Simulation
• Inquiry-based instruction
• Problem-based learning
• Shadowing experiences
• Mentorships
• Independent study
• Independent investigations

Indirect
83
Teachers Role
Explicit-Implicit

• Drill Instructor
• Illustrator
• Trainer
• Inquirer
• Coach
• Facilitator
• Designer

84
How Can We Use Teaching Strategies to Support
Curriculum Differentiation?

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Affective Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

• TEACHING STRATEGIES
• Avoid being the sage on the stage.
• See teaching as FACILITATING students sense
  making
• Use direct or indirect teaching methods to
  respond to students learning needs
• Vary the amount of teaching time for different
  groups of learners
• Vary the amount and source of feedback
• Provide skill strategies only if learners need
  them
• Provide practice and reinforcement only if
  warranted
• Change the pace of teaching

85
Examples Teaching StrategiesContent Knowledge
Students will identify physical changes as
changes in state or form evaporation and
condensation (the rain cycle)
EXAMPLE 2Students were assigned to small,
flexible groups based upon preassessment data
that revealed critical differences in students
prior knowledge. One group of students was
provided with a demonstration about the two
processes, asked to work as a small group to come
to consensus in a small group discussion about
their observations, and make a list of everyday
examples of these two processes at work. Another
group, with greater prior knowledge than the
first, was asked to watch the same demonstration,
come to consensus in a small group discussion
about their observations and conclusions and to
compare their findings to the weather outside.
The third group, who demonstrated a thorough
understanding of the two processes, was provided
with topographical maps and related weather
information, and was asked to draw conclusions
about why it rains in some parts of the United
States than in other parts. The teacher roved to
each of the small groups and used Socratic
questioning and feedback to advance students
thinking.
86
Teaching Strategies AlgebraStandard 8 (Gr.
6-8) Students will understand and apply basic
and advanced properties of functions and algebra
Knowledge/Skill statement Understands the
concept of slope

• EXAMPLE 2
• Mr. Grenke prepared to begin a 3 week algebra
  unit on slope with his 8th graders. From past
  experiences, he anticipated that there would be
  critical differences among his students with
  respect to conceptual understanding and abstract
  thinking, so he gathered a variety of resources
  as he planned his teaching strategies. He would
  begin with a motivating problem, that could
  double as a hook How Steep Can a Ramp Be?
  (www.figurethis.org) He would listen carefully
  to students mathematical discourse about the
  problem to diagnose students foundational
  understanding and misconceptions. Based upon his
  diagnosis, he would initially divide the students
  into two groups those who had incomplete or
  missing foundational concepts and those who
  already had some knowledge of the concepts and
  skills.
• For the first group, he would scaffold
  mini-lessons around the concepts students didnt
  know. He might use a geoboard applet
  (www.enc.org) that allows students to use virtual
  elastics and pegs to draw conclusions about rise
  and run. He would use demonstration, the concept
  attainment model, Socratic questioning and
  feedback to support the first groups learning.
• He went on the web and located another
  real-world problem related to slope that would
  extend the second groups understanding of slope
  and rate of change The Lost House Keys.
  (http//mathcentral.uregina.ca) Working in a
  small group, he would invite students to discuss
  and answer a series of open-ended questions What
  is this problem about? What are some of the
  factors that are important when you set up the
  ladder? What is causing the steepness if the
  ladder to change? What is the relationship
  between the amount of vertical distance covered
  with respect to that covered by the horizontal
  distance? How is this problem similar/different
  to the one done by the whole class? Can rise and
  run be expressed mathematically? What new
  questions do I/we have? He planned to use
  Socratic questioning and feedback to support the
  second groups learning.
• Based upon student learning at the outset of
  this lesson, he would reevaluate group membership
  before proceeding with the next phase of the
  lesson, determine their learning needs and the
  best teaching strategy to support their learning.

87
Learning Activities




Definition Tasks for students that are designed
to develop the knowledge, understanding, and
skills specified in the content and learning
goals. Purpose To help students perceive,
process, store, and/or transfer new
information and skills. Characteristics
Aligned with the content goals, teaching
methods and students learning needs
varied motivating promote cognitive
engagement efficient, causes perturbation,
and dissonance








88
How Can We Use Learning Activities to Support
Curriculum Differentiation?

• LEARNING ACTIVITIES
• Make students think
• Listen and watch students thinking purposively
  and frequently use your observations to tailor
  instruction
• Ensure that the learning activities are not too
  easy or too frustrating
• Ensure that the learning pace is not too fast,
  not too slow, but just right
• Offer more or less scaffolding
• Provide more or less time
• Provide advance organizers that have more/less
  detail
• Create more reflection opportunities
• Vary grouping options for learning activities
  (e.g., heterogeneous, homogeneous) provide some
  opportunity for students to self-select group
  membership

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Affective Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

89
Examples Learning ActivitiesLearning Goal
Students will identify physical changes as
changes in state or form evaporation and
condensation (the rain cycle)

• EXAMPLE 2
• Observe a demonstration
• Make observations and write them down your
  observations in a scientific log
• Work with students in your group. Come to
  consensus within your group about your
  observations
• Compare your observations to the weather outside.

• EXAMPLE 1
• Read pages 74-79 in your textbook. Answer the
  first three questions on page 80, Review
  Questions.

90
Resources





Definition Materials that support learning
during the teaching and learning
activities. Purpose To provide a context or
format for delivering, receiving, processing,
or communicating new knowledge . Characterist
ics Aligned with the content goals, teaching
methods and students learning needs
varied authentic motivating, appropriate
levels of readability and cognitive demand








91
How Can We Use Resources to Support Curriculum
Differentiation?

• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS
• Academic Differences
• Developmental readiness
• Prior knowledge/Opportunity to learn
• Reading level
• Concept and skill attainment
• Cognitive Differences
• Schemas
• Thinking skills
• Learning rate
• Affective Differences
• Interests
• Learning styles
• Motivation

• RESOURCES
• Use advance organizers
• Incorporate manipulatives
• Develop skill/strategy sheets that include
  varying levels of detail
• Use mnemonics
• Provide post-its_at_ and highlighters
• Provide resources at appropriate levels
• Dont put a ceiling on resources
• Use www.iconn.org
• Consider students interests
• Ensure that resources reflect a variety of
  formats (e.g., visual, auditory)

92
Examples ResourcesLearning Goal Students will
describe and explain some of the reasons people
have moved and relate these reasons to some
historic movements of large groups of people

• EXAMPLE 1
• The textbook
• Stories