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Professional development activities that have proven effective will be included in Develop Your Staff. Your contributions are welcome. Send them to principal@osu.edu. Please indicate if we may use your name in the “contributor” credits.
Differentiated Instruction in the Mixed-Ability Classroom. Part 1: Prepare Yourself
Back in the “good old days,” when public education supposedly worked, illiteracy and dropout ran rampant in the U.S. population.
Why? Because schools taught one thing, one way, and it was that way or the highway.
The expectations have changed drastically, but teaching methods, unfortunately, often have not. As public school principals, we take all comers. Here’s how to ensure that all students learn.
Workshop. My first experience with this workshop was as a participant with other administrators in the district. Later, my staff and I participated as a team when we brought the workshop to our building.
Prepare Yourself. Here are some operational definitions, principles of a differentiated classroom, and resources. Not only will these give you background, but they’re also useful for the workshop packet.
What Differentiated Instruction Is NOT
It is not 1970s individualized instruction—a learning profile for each student. Differentiated instruction’s focus is on meaningful learning or powerful ideas for all students.
It is not chaotic. Differentiated classrooms include purposeful movement and student talk.
It is not just another way of providing homogeneous grouping. “Fluid” is a good word to describe how assignment of students works.
It is not just “tailoring” the same suit of clothes. Differentiated instruction is getting clothes that are the right fit at a given time.
Principles of a Differentiated Classroom
- Learning Experiences are based on diagnosis of student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile.
- Content, Activities, and Products are developed in response to varying needs of varied learners.
- Teaching and Learning are focused on key concepts, understandings, and skills.
- All Students are engaged in “respectful” work. No busywork, no dumbing-down.
- Teacher and Students work together to ensure continuous engagement and challenge for each learner.
- The Teacher coordinates use of time, space, and activities.
- Flexible Grouping ensures consistently fluid working arrangements, including whole-class learning, pairs, triads and quads, student-selected groups, teacher-selected groups, and random groups.
- Time Use is flexible in response to student needs.
- Varied Management Strategies such as learning centers, interest centers, compacting, contract, independent study, collegial partnerships, tiered assignments, learning buddies, etc., are used to target instruction to student needs.
- Clear Individual and Group Criteria provide guidance to success. I’ve told you before about rubrics, which serve as clear guides to work criteria and quality. Click for more.
- Student Work is assessed in a variety of ways appropriate to demonstrate their thinking and growth.
Source: Carol Ann Tomlinson, University of Virginia
Resources
Baehr, L, & Ralston, C. (2000). Differentiated instruction: one district’s journey. Ohio ASCD Journal, 3, 7-12. Read more >
Tomlinson, C. (1999).The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Read more >
Part 2 includes an agenda, participant packet, and activities to present the introductory Differentiated Instruction workshop to your staff.
