DIFFERENTIATION

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DIFFERENTIATION

• ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
• Caroline S. Cohen, Ph.D.

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What is Differentiation?

• Matching appropriately challenging curriculum and
  instruction with a students abilities,
  interests, and learning styles through a variety
  of instructional strategies and challenging
  curriculum.

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Purpose of Differentiation

• 1. Enhance learning match between student and
  curriculum
• 2. Change depth or breadth of student learning
• 3. Use varied learning strategies, groupings and
  management
• 4. Enable all students to make continuous
  progress
• in all areas.

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Ways in Which Individuals Differ

• Prior Knowledge or Skill Expertise
• Learning Rate
• Cognitive Ability
• Learning Style Preference
• Motivation, Attitude, and Effort
• Interest, Strength, or Talent

University of Connecticut, 2131 Hillside Road
Unit 3007, Storrs The National Research Center on
the Gifted and Talented, 2004, CT 06269-3007
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What is Differentiated Instruction?

• Its teaching with student variance in mind.
• Its starting where the kids are rather than with
  a standardized approach to teaching that assumes
  all kids of a given age or grade are essentially
  alike.
• Its responsive teaching rather than
  one-size-fits-all teaching.

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What is Differentiated Instruction?

• Its a way of thinking about the classroom with
  the goals of honoring each students learning
  needs and maximizing each students learning
  capacity while developing a solid community of
  learners.

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What is Differentiated Instruction?

• Its a teacher reacting responsively to a
  learners needs.
• Its shaking up the classroom so students have
  multiple options to learn.

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Some Differentiation Strategies

• Curriculum Compacting
• Tiered Assignments
• Alternate Choice Assignments
• Enrichment and Acceleration
• Higher Level Questions
• Grouping Options
• Independent Study and Research Studies
• Competitions and Mentorships

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Incorporating Differentiation Within the
Curriculum

• Introduction
• Initial Teaching
• Locating or Designing a Pretest Format Based on
  Anticipated Differences
• Pretesting
• Analysis of Pretest Results
• Decision Making and Planning
• Formation of Flexible Small Groups
• Differentiated Teaching and Learning Activities

University of Connecticut, 2131 Hillside Road
Unit 3007, Storrs The National Research Center on
the Gifted and Talented, 2004, CT 06269-3007
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What Is Tiering?

• One form of differentiation. 
• Ensures that students with different learning
  needs work with the same essential ideas and use
  the same key skills but at different levels of
• complexity
• abstractness
• open-endedness

Tomlinson, C. (1995).  The Differentiated
Classroom. Alexandria, VA ASCD.
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Why use tiered instruction?

• Maximizes the likelihood that
• each student comes away with key skills and
  understandings.
• each student is appropriately challenged.

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How does tiering work?

• Decide what key concepts and skills the lesson
  will address.
• Create 2 to 3 levels of assignments that are
  modified
• for resource students
• for the core class (core classthe
  instructional level of the majority of the
  students in a classroom
• for advanced students

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What can be tiered?
Assignments Activities Homework Learning
Centers
Experiments Materials Assessments Writing
Prompts
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• True learning occurs when the task difficulty and
  skill level are slightly above the students
  level.
• Tiered instruction allows learning to occur for
  all students at an appropriate level.

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All Tiers Should

• build understanding
• challenge students
• be interesting and engaging
• be respectful

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Indicators of Differentiation

• Consistent use of pretesting
• Decrease in the frequency of large group
  activities
• Increase in
• Small group teaching activities
• Flexible small group learning activities
• Increase in individual alternatives
• Centers
• Homework
• Contracts

University of Connecticut, 2131 Hillside Road
Unit 3007, Storrs The National Research Center on
the Gifted and Talented, 2004, CT 06269-3007
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SEM Lecture, Dr. Joseph Renzulli, UCONN, 2005
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CURRICULUM COMPACTING

• Appropriate Content And Pacing For Each Student

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Curriculum Compacting
Curriculum compacting is used to
modify and/or streamline the regular
curriculum to eliminate repetition of
previously mastered material, upgrade
the challenge level of the regular
curriculum, and provide time for
appropriate enrichment and/or
acceleration activities, while ensuring
mastery of basic skills.
University of Connecticut, 2131 Hillside Road
Unit 3007, Storrs The National Research Center on
the Gifted and Talented, 2004, CT 06269-3007
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Curriculum Compacting Rationale

• The needs of high ability students are often not
  met in classrooms
• The pace of instruction and practice time can be
  modified.
• Compacting guarantees educational accountability.

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Compacting Quick and Dirty Check

• Is the student in the top reading group or
  reading at an advanced level?
• Does he or she finish tasks quickly?
• Do you think he or she would benefit from more
  challenging work?

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Goals of Compacting

• Create a challenging learning environment in the
  classroom and the enrichment program for all
  children!
• Define objectives and guarantee proficiency in
  basic curriculum.
• Find time for alternative learning activities
  based on advanced content and individual student
  interest.

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Compacting

• Assesses what a student knows and what the
  student still needs to master
• Eliminates content that is already known
• Plans time to be spent in enriched or accelerated
  study

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The Three Components of Curriculum Compacting

• Describe the students strengths in a particular
  curricular area. Indicate the evidence that
  suggests the need for compacting.
• Describe teaching and assessment activities that
  will be used to guarantee the students
  proficiency in the basic curriculum.
• Describe activities that will be used to provide
  advanced level learning experiences for the
  student, in each area of the regular curriculum.

Source Its About Time Inservice Strategies
for Curriculum Compacting by Alane J. Starko.
Mansfield Center, CT Creative Learning Press,
1986.
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Curriculum Compacting
Step 3 Creative What alternate activities
will be planned for enrichment and/or
acceleration? Individual or small group?
Step 2 Mechanical What learning activities
are needed to teach and assess the regular
curriculum?
Step 1 Factual What are the objectives? What
material will be taught?
How will you use the students learner profile?
What will be the creative/productive options that
will be used as replacement activities?
How will you document prior or rapid mastery?
(pre-testing) What material is to be eliminated?
What content does s/he already know about this
theme or unit?
How will the students work be shared with an
audience? Change It.
What learning activities are needed to teach the
material not previously mastered? (streamlined
instruction) Prove It.
What are the student behaviors that suggest
compacting?
Name It.

Adapted from Its About Time Inservice
Strategies for Curriculum Compacting by Alane J.
Starko. Mansfield Center, CT Creative Learning
Press, 1986.
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Checklist for Curriculum Compacting
Can you answer Yes to these questions?
Do I believe that all students learn at different
rates? Do I believe that students come to me
with differing amounts of knowledge? Some do not
have adequate background to master the regular
curriculum, while others have already mastered
some material. Do I believe that students
should prove mastery of the regular curriculum at
my grade level? Do I believe that students can
learn through a variety of large group, small
group, and individual activities? Do I believe
that students should be provided with work which
is challenging and appropriate to their ability
level? Do I believe that students have
different interests? Do I believe that some of
a students work should be based on her/his
interests and strengths?
Adapted from Its About Time Inservice
Strategies for Curriculum Compacting by Alane J.
Starko. Mansfield Center, CT Creative Learning
Press, 1986.
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Curriculum Compacting Checklist (continued)
Can you answer No to these questions?
Yesterday I assigned homework or seatwork. Did
all students complete the same assignment?
Yesterday one of my students completed his/her
assignment before the rest of the class. Did I
assign more work of a similar nature? Did any
student receive an A or 100 on all work
completed yesterday? Did any student complete
her/his work before others and spend time in
less that productive ways? (comic books, paper
airplanes, sleep?) Were any above-average
ability students discipline or behavior problems
yesterday?
Adapted from Its About Time Inservice
Strategies for Curriculum Compacting by Alane J.
Starko. Mansfield Center, CT Creative Learning
Press, 1986.
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