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10 Inspiring Quotations To Help You Differentiate Instruction Infographic

10 Inspiring Quotations To Help You Differentiate Instruction Infographic

When it comes to differentiated instruction, one of the most common questions asked by busy teachers is "How can I find the time?"

In her newly revised book  The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. 2nd Edition. Carol Ann Tomlinson offers valuable insight into the power of differentiated instruction in today’s classroom. In this updated second edition of her best-selling classic work, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers teachers a powerful and practical way to meet a challenge that is both very modern and completely timeless: how to divide their time, resources, and efforts to effectively instruct so many students of various backgrounds, readiness and skill levels, and interests.

Whether you need motivation to implement differentiated instruction in the classroom or simply need reassurance that it’s working you’ll find inspiration in these words of wisdom from Tomlinson:

  • Every child is entitled to the promise of a teacher’s optimism, enthusiasm, time, and energy.
  • Educators should be champions of every student who enters
  • Teachers in the most exciting and effective differentiated classrooms don ’t have all the answers. What they do have is optimism and determination.
  • It is a human birthright to be a learner. There is little we do that is more important.
  • Like students, teachers grow best when they are moderately challenged. Waiting until conditions are ideal or until you are sure of yourself yields lethargy, not growth.
  • Teachers change either because they see the light or because they feel the heat.
  • A great coach never achieves greatness for himself or his team by working to make all his players alike.
  • Becoming an expert at differentiation is a career-long goal. One step at a time. You will get there.
  • Don’t feel compelled to grade everything. There’s a time for students to figure things out and a time for judging whether they did, but the two shouldn’t always be the same.
  • If curriculum and instruction are the heart and limbs of sound teaching. Then classroom management is the central nervous system. Without the heart, there is no life but without the nervous system there is no function.

Today more than ever, The Differentiated Classroom is a must-have staple for every teacher’s shelf and every school’s professional development collection.  See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

10 Inspiring Quotations To Help You Differentiate Instruction Infographic

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Carol Ann Tomlinson Quotes

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differentiated learning quotes

Differentiated Instruction is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences. Rather than marching students through the curriculum lockstep, teachers should modify their instruction to meet students' varying readiness levels, learning preferences, and interests. Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to 'get it' and express learning.

In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students are, not the front of a curriculum guide.

Differentiation is classroom practice that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning.

A teacher in a differentiated classroom does not classify herself as someone who ‘already differentiates instruction.’ Rather that teacher is fully aware that every hour of teaching, every day in the classroom can reveal one more way to make the classroom a better match for its learners.

Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction.

We need to develop a robust set of tools - strategies and routines - that help us address student variance. It's easy to come to rely on two or three "trusty" instructional strategies like worksheets and lectures. Those are of little help in planning for a variety of student needs. As we develop a better toolbox, we're empowered to meet students where they are.

differentiated learning quotes

Creating a classroom environment that encourages students to take the risk of learning. We've known for a long time that when students lack a sense of safety or of belonging or of contribution, learning takes second place to meeting those needs.

As educators we need to understand that there is no finish line in our work.

Teachers craft classrooms that are good matches for their teaching styles as well as for learner needs.

Plan to be better today, but don't ever plan to be finished

The central job of schools is to maximize the capacity of each students.

Until a teacher learns to use elements like time, space, materials, groupings, and so forth flexibly, it's incredibly difficult to teach students as they need to be taught.

It is not so important to have all the answers as to be hungry for them.

Important element is deeply understanding our curriculum. Most teachers know what they're going to cover this week or this term. Few of us can specify precisely what students should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of any particular learning experience or set of learning experiences. Without that specificity, alignment between content, assessment, and instruction is weak.

We need teacher educators who are hungry to learn about and implement contemporary approaches to teaching and learning in their own classrooms and who are reflective about their work with their students.

We need to understand where are students are at any point during a unit - in other words, what each student actually knows, understands, and can do at a given time based on the content goals we've established.

A gifted teacher has an unfailing eye for magical classrooms & loses sleep over anything less than the highest quality.

When challenge and skills are in balance the activity is its own reward

The best educators I have met never stop asking questions. Some of them have taught for forty years and continue to be energized by new possibilities.

We're teaching a generation of students who've been schooled to produce quick, right answers on demand. They are not comfortable with ambiguity. The implications of that in the long term are discomforting.

I have little interest in a surgeon who says, "I learned that when I was in medical school. Why should I revisit it?" or who says, "I've done that operation the same way for ten years. Don't bother me with new approaches." I see teaching in the same way.

We can always gain more depth and breadth in our work [as educators]. There are always new discoveries to be made.

The high stakes test culture runs almost totally counter to what we know about how people learn. It causes us to engage in professional malpractice on a regular basis.

Interest refers to student’s affinity, curiosity, or passion for a particular topic or skill.

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"The best educators I have met never stop asking questions. Some of them have taught for forty years and continue to be energized by new possibilities."

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Differentiated Learning Quotes

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Quotes from The Differentiated Classroom

Here are some quotes from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners 2nd Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson. I underlined other sections, but I decided to just include these quotes on this post.

Chapter 1: What is a Differentiated Classroom?

“More than a century ago in the United States and other parts of the world, the teacher in a one-room schoolhouse faced a challenging task. She had to divide her time and energy between teaching young people of varied ages who had never held a book and could not read or write along and teaching more advanced students of varying ages who had very different content needs. Today’s teachers still contend with the essential challenge of the teacher in the one-room schoolhouse: how to reach out effectively to students who span the spectrum of learning readiness, personal interests, and culturally shaped ways of seeing and speaking about and experiencing the world.

Although today’s teachers generally work with individual classes where students are approximately the same age, these children arguably have an array of needs greater than those of the children in the one-room school-house. Thus, a teacher’s question remains much the same as it was 100 years ago: “How do I divide time, resources, and myself so that I am an effective catalyst for maximizing talent in all my students?”

Consider how these teachers answer that question.

Ms. Handley studies her students persistently; she feels she must know them well to teach them well. She sets as her measure of professional success that every student engages in and contributes to learning every day and that every student makes observable progress every day. She works hard to gain her students’ trust very early in the year and to prove herself worthy of their trust thereafter. She uses formative assessment, both formal and informal, as her primary understanding of what each student needs in order to connect with the curriculum and to grow as a result of class experiences. She says that formative assessment lets her know what she needs to do to make tomorrow’s lesson work best for every student.

Mrs. Wiggins assigns students to multiple spelling lists based on pre-assessment results rather than making the assumption that all 3rd graders should work on List 3.

Mr. Owen matches homework to student need whenever possible, trying to ensure that practice is meaningful to everyone. He invites students to be part of determining which home tasks will best help them understand and apply mathematical concepts and principles.

Ms. Jernigan sometimes teaches math to the whole class at once. More often, she uses a series of direct instruction, practice, and application groups based on daily formative assessment information. She matches practice activities and sense-making tasks to students’ varied readiness needs, and she groups students for real-world math applications based on their interests or preferred approaches to learning. In this way, she says, students learn from and contribute to the learning of a variety of peers” (1-2).

“Mr. Ellis works regularly with small-group instruction he designs to move students forward from their current points of knowledge, understanding, and skill. Students with whom he’s not meeting at a given time work independently, in pairs or in small groups, on practice or sense-making tasks set at appropriate challenge levels or tailored to connect current content to students’ interests. Formative assessment guides his instructional planning” (3).

“In other words, teachers who differentiate provide specific alternatives for individuals to learn as deeply as possible and as quickly as possible, without assuming one student’s road map for learning is identical to anyone else’s” (4).

“These teachers are also artists who use the tools of their craft to address students’ needs. They do not aspire to standardized, mass-produced lessons because they recognize that students are individuals and require a personal fit. Their goal is student learning and satisfaction in learning, not curriculum coverage” (4).

Chapter 2: The Underpinnings of Differentiation

“These teachers don’t see assessment as something that comes at the end of a unit to find out what students learned (or didn’t learn); rather, assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify tomorrow’s instruction.

The teacher then shapes tomorrow’s lesson - and even reshapes today’s - with the goal of helping individual students move ahead from their current position of competency. Further, the teacher understands that a pivotal classroom goal is to help students take charge of their own learning - to help them seek awareness of learning goals, and make plans that support their movement steadily toward (and perhaps beyond) the goals. Encouraging students to analyze their own work relative to clearly articulated goals and criteria for success helps them consistently grown in independence, agency, and self-efficacy as learners.

At benchmark points in learning - such as the end of a unit segment or of the unit itself - teachers in differentiated classrooms, like most teachers, use summative assessments to formally record student growth. Even then, however, they use varied means of assessment so that all students can fully display their skills and understanding. Assessment always has more to do with helping students demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do than with cataloging their mistakes” (18).

“A differentiated classroom is, of necessity, student-centered. Students are the workers. The teacher coordinates time, space, materials, and activities. Her effectiveness increases as students learn to help themselves, their teacher, and one another achieve group and individual goals” (21).

“Some may think that differentiating instruction is a relatively new idea, hatched from wherever it is that educational ‘innovations’ begin. Actually, its baseline principle is quite old - found in the writings of Confucious and in ancient Jewish and Muslim scriptures: people differ in their abilities and strengths. Differentiated instruction simply takes into account those differences.

Chapter 3: Rethinking How We Do School - and for Whom

In more recent history, one-room schoolhouses in the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world practiced differentiation. Six and 16-year-olds came each day to the same classroom. Teachers planned around the reality that it made little sense to use the same reading book or math problem with everyone in the room, and around the truth that a 16-year-old might require more fundamental instruction and practice than a 6-year-old” (29-30).

“The brain learns best when it can make its own sense out of information rather than when information is imposed on it. The brain doesn’t respond much to things that carry only a surface meaning. It responds far more effectively and efficiently to something that carries deep and personal meaning - something that is life shaping, relevant, or important or taps into emotions … Our takeaway from this research is that curriculum must cultivate meaning making. It should be organized around categories, concepts, and governing principles. A meaningful curriculum is characterized by high interest and high relevance, and it taps into learners’ feelings and experiences. If we want students to retain, understand, and use ideas, information, and skills, we must give them ample opportunity to make sense of or ‘own’ these ideas, information, and skills through involvement in complex learning situations” (32-33).

“Through increased understanding of both psychology and the brain, we now know that individuals learn best when they are in a context that provides a moderate challenge … That is, when a task is far too difficult for a learner, the learner feels threatened and ‘downshifts’ into a self-protection mode. A threatened learner will not persist with thinking or problem solving. On the other hand, a task that is too easy also suppresses thinking and problem solving, encouraging the learner to coast into a relaxation mode.

A task is appropriately challenging when it asks learners to risk a leap into the unknown bu they know enough to get started and have support for reaching a new level understanding. Put another way, both students who consistently fail and those who succeed too easily lose their motivation to learn. For learning to continue, students must understand that hard work is required and have confidence that hard work generally leads to success. Teachers also must remember that what is moderately challenging today most likely won’t offer the same challenge tomorrow. Challenges must grow as students grow in their learning” (33-34).

“Children who come to school advanced beyond grade expectations in one or more areas also require equity of opportunity to grow from their points of entry, with teachers doggedly determined to ensure that their potential does not languish. These children need teachers who model, commend, and command excellence - teachers who help them dream big, who cause them to experience, accept, and embrace personal challenge. Both equity and excellence must be a part of our road map for these students, as they must for every learner who comes to us” (36).

“Too often in settings designed to benefit learners whose school performance lags behind grade-level norms, teachers’ expectations for the students decline, materials are simplified, the level of discourse is uninspiring, and the pace slackens. When students look around at their peers, they see only other students who are discouraged or who have given up on school. Too few students escape these arrangements to join more ‘typical’ or advanced classes. In other words, remedial classes tend to keep remedial learners remedial … In theory, creating academically heterogeneous classes should address equity of access to excellence for all learners simply because of the presence of advanced learners; the full range of learners in the classroom would benefit from the high-level curriculum and instruction designed for advanced learners. There are three major flaws with this assumption, however, at least as schools function to this point.

First, struggling learners will not experience more long-term success by being placed in heterogeneous classes unless teachers are ready and able to meet them at their point of readiness and to systematically escalate learning until these students are able to function as competently and confidently as other learners. Including struggling learners in heterogeneous classes may represent high expectations for all students, but not if students are left to their own devices to figure out how to ‘catch up’ with the expectations. Such an approach does not result in genuine growth for struggling learners.

Another challenge is that in heterogeneous classrooms, advanced students often are asked either to do a greater volume of work than they already know how to do, to ensure the success of other students through much of the school day by serving as peer teachers, or to wait (patiently, of course) while students with less advanced skills continue to work for mastery of content that they themselves have already mastered. Implicitly - and sometimes even explicitly - we suggest that advanced learners are fine without special attention to their needs because they are ‘up to standards’ already. In other words, curricula and instruction in many classrooms tend to be aimed at ‘average’ students and do not account for the nature and needs of advanced learners. This approach clearly can’t achieve genuine growth for students whose performance surpasses the aspirations of curriculum designed to teach them what they already know.

A third problem with heterogeneity as it is typically practiced is the assumption that what happens in heterogeneous classrooms for ‘typical learners’ works for virtually all students of a given age. The premise has often been that everyone can benefit from standard, grade-level classrooms. In fact, it is often the case that this standard fare is less than the best we know to do, even for students who perform at or near grade level. Well into the 21st century, heterogeneous classrooms still usually follow a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning, where a standardized learning plan swallows some learners, pinches others, and fails to inspire most. Such an approach proves for neither equity nor excellence for anyone.

By contrast, differentiation offers the possibility of creating effective heterogeneous communities of learning governed by flexible classroom routines that allow and invite attention to students’ diverse learning needs. In these classrooms, complex curriculum is the beginning point for instructional planning for virtually all learners, and for all learners there is the possibility for community, equity, and excellence” (37-39).

Chapter 4: Learning Environments That Support Differentiated Instruction

The content in a healthy classroom is rooted in these realities. Thus, in a healthy classroom, what is taught and learned

Is relevant to students, personal, familiar, and connected to the world they know;

Helps students understand themselves and their world more fully now and as they grow up;

Is authentic, offering ‘real’ history or math or art, not just exercises about the subject;

Can be used immediately for something that matters to students; and

Opens students’ ideas to their power and potential both inside the classroom and out in the world.

Chapter 6: Teachers at Work Building Differentiated Classrooms

There are three questions that are very useful in analyzing differentiated curriculum and instruction: What is the teacher differentiating? How is the teacher differentiating? Why is the teaching differentiating?

What is the teacher differentiating? This question focuses us on the curricular element the teacher has modified in response to learner needs. It might be one or more of the following:

Content - what students will learn or how the students will get access to the information, skills, and ideas that are essential to understanding and using those elements;

Process - the activities through which students make sense of key ideas using essential knowledge and skills;

Product - how students demonstrate and extend what they know, understand, and can do as a result of a segment of learning; or

Affect/learning environment - the classroom conditions and interactions that set the tone and expectations of learning.

How is the teacher differentiating? The question focuses us on the student trait to which the differentiation responds. Is the teacher differentiating in response to student readiness, interest, learning profile, or some combination of the three? Any learning experience can be modified to respond to one or more of these student traits.

Why is the teacher differentiating? Here, we consider the teacher’s reason for modifying the learning experience. Is it to support access to learning? To increase student motivation to learn? To improve the efficiency of learning? Any or all of these three reasons for differentiating instruction can be tied to student readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Students can’t learn that which is inaccessible to them because they have no way to understand it. They can’t learn when they are unmotivated by material that is consistently too difficult or too easy …” (82-83).

“ Differentiating why? Here, too, efficiency of learning and access to understanding are important to the teacher. Ms. Howe tries to meet students where their skills currently are, and she wants to help each child move on as rapidly as possible” (86).

“Ms. Estes pre-tests her students on spelling in September. Typically, she identifies both students who work with 2nd grade words and those who top out on an 8th grade list, as well as the range in between. She uses a spelling procedure that is the same for all students, but each student works on a particular list indicated by current spelling performance. She color-codes the lists rather than labeling them with grade equivalents … Differentiating what? Ms. Estes is differentiating content by varying the spelling lists …

Differentiating how? All of the spelling differentiation is based on ongoing assessment of student readiness …

Differentiating why? This procedure provides access to growth for all students at a rate appropriate for them individually. Independence and peer assistance are both quite motivating to the middle schoolers” (89-90).

My reflection: Students can have different content, and this is good. ESL 1 (beginner ELs) shouldn’t have to study and take tests on ACT vocabulary when they are just learning the very basics of the English language like greetings, colors, subjects, etc. If there was ever a time to pre-test students, this would be the time to pre-test.

“Teachers in these illustrations are crafting escalators of learning. They do not assume there is one spelling list for all 6th graders, one set of volleyball skills for all 7th graders, or one set of sentences for every novice German student. These teachers demonstrate a systematic intent to find students who are one floor - or two or three - below performance expectations and to move them up with minimal gaps and no sense of despair. There is also systematic intent to find learners who are a floor - or two or three - above performance expectations and to move them further upward with minimal ‘marching in place’ and a sense that learning is synonymous with striving and challenge” (91-92).

Chapter 8: More Instructional Strategies to Support Differentiation

“Tiered activities are useful when a teacher wants to ensure that students with different degrees of learning proficiency work with the same essential ideas and use the same key knowledge and skills. In other words, tiering is a readiness-based strategy. For example, a student who struggles with reading or has a difficult time with abstract thinking nonetheless needs to make sense of the pivotal concepts and principles in a given article or story. A student who is advanced well beyond grade expectations in that same subject needs to find genuine challenge in working with the same key content. A one-size-fits-all activity is unlikely to help either struggling or grade-level learners come to own important ideas, nor will it extend the understanding of students with great knowledge and skill in the area … By keeping the focus of the activity the same but providing routes of access at varying degrees of difficulty, the teacher maximizes the likelihood that each student comes away with pivotal skills and understandings and all students are appropriately challenged … The goal should be to stretch all students slightly beyond their comfort zone and to provide the support necessary for students to succeed at the new level of challenge” (133-136).

“A powerful strategy for addressing students’ varied learning needs is the use of small groups for teaching, practice, or discussion. When a teacher’s classroom observations and formative assessment indicate that some students are lagging behind in key content proficiency, lack of prerequisite content, have misunderstandings about how the content works, or are advanced with essential content, small-group instruction provides a simple and direct way to reteach, review, provide focused and supervised practice, clarify misunderstandings, or extend student proficiency. Small groups are also useful in making interest-based connections with essential knowledge, understanding, and skill” (147).

Chapter 9: How Do Teachers Make It All Work?

“For a variety of reasons, students in a multitask classroom must learn to get help from someone other than you much of the time. Teach them how to do that, and make provisions for help from other sources” (161).

Chapter 10: Education Leaders as Catalysts for Differentiated Classrooms

“Differentiation is not an instructional strategy, a collection of strategies, or a teaching model. It’s a way of thinking about teaching and learning that advocates beginning where individuals are rather than with a prescribed plan of action that ignores student variance. It is a way of thinking that challenges how educators typically envision assessment, teaching, learning, classroom roles, use of time, and curriculum. It is also a way of thinking that stems from our best understanding of how people learn” (170).

An Argument Against the Teacher-Centered Model for Both the ESL Teacher and the Tennis Coach

Needed conversation.

Differentiated Instruction: A Primer

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How can a teacher keep a reading class of 25 on the same page when four students have dyslexia, three students are learning English as a second language, two others read three grade levels ahead, and the rest have widely disparate interests and degrees of enthusiasm about reading?

What is Differentiated Instruction?

“Differentiated instruction”—the process of identifying students’ individual learning strengths, needs, and interests and adapting lessons to match them—has become a popular approach to helping diverse students learn together. But the field of education is filled with varied and often conflicting definitions of what the practice looks like, and critics argue it requires too much training and additional work for teachers to be implemented consistently and effectively.

Differentiated Instruction Definition

The process of identifying students’ individual learning strengths, needs, and interests and adapting lessons to match them

Differentiation has much in common with many other instructional models: It has been compared to response-to-intervention models, as teachers vary their approach to the same material with different students in the same classroom; data-driven instruction, as individual students are frequently assessed or otherwise monitored, with instruction tweaked in response; and scaffolding, as assignments are intended to be structured to help students of different ability and interest levels meet the same goals.

Federal education laws and regulations do not generally set out requirements for how schools and teachers should “differentiate” instruction. However, in its 2010 National Education Technology Plan , the U.S. Department of Education lays out a framework that places differentiated teaching under the larger umbrella of “personalized learning,” instruction tailored to students’ individual learning needs, preferences, and interests. This framework assumes that all students in a heterogeneous classroom will have the same learning goals, but:

  • “Individualization” tailors instruction by time . A teacher may break the material into smaller steps and allow students to master these steps at different paces; skipping topics they can prove they have mastered, while getting more help on those that prove difficult. This model has been used in iterations as far back as the late Robert Glaser’s Individually Prescribed Instruction in the 1970s, an approach which pairs diagnostic tests with objectives for mastery that is intended to help students progress through material at their own pace.
  • “Differentiation” tailors instruction by presentation . A teacher may vary the method and assignments covering the material to adjust to students’ strengths, needs, and interests. For example, a teacher may allow an introverted student to write an essay on a historical topic while a more outgoing student gives an oral presentation on the same subject.

That distinction is accepted by some, though far from all, in the field.

The ambiguity has led to widespread confusion and debate over what differentiated instruction looks like in practice, and how its effectiveness can be evaluated.

For example, a 2005 study for the National Research Center on Gifted and Talented, which tracked implementation of “differentiation” over three years , found that the “vast majority” of teachers never moved beyond traditional direct lectures and seat work for students.

“Results suggest that differentiation of instruction and assessment are complex endeavors requiring extended time and concentrated effort to master,” the authors conclude. “Add to this complexity current realities of school such as large class sizes, limited resource materials, lack of planning time, lack of structures in place to allow collaboration with colleagues, and ever-increasing numbers of teacher responsibilities, and the tasks become even more daunting.”

Evolution of the Concept

Differentiated instruction as a concept evolved in part from instructional methods advocated for gifted students and in part as an alternative to academic “tracking,” or separating students of different ability levels into groups or classes. In the 1983 book, Individual Differences and the Common Curriculum , Thomas S. Popkewitz discusses differentiation in the context of “Individually Guided Education, … a management plan for pacing children through a standardized, objective-based curriculum” that would include small-group work, team teaching, objective-based testing, and monitoring of student progress.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, a co-director of the Institutes on Academic Diversity at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, and the author of The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners , 2nd Edition (ASCD, 2014) and Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom (ASCD, 2013) argues that differentiation is, at its base, not an approach but a basic tenet of good instruction, in which a teacher develops relationships with his or her students and presents materials and assignments in ways that respond to the student’s interests and needs.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies

In theory—though critics allege not in practice—differentiation does not involve creating separate lesson plans for individual students for a given unit.

Ms. Tomlinson argues that differentiation requires more than creating options for assignments or presenting content both graphically and with hands-on projects, for example. Rather, to differentiate a unit on Rome, a teacher might consider both specific terms and overarching themes and concepts she wants students to learn, and offer a series of individual and group assignments of various levels of complexity to build those concepts and allow students to demonstrate their understanding in multiple ways, such as journal entries, oral presentations, creating costumes, and so on. In different parts of a unit students may be working with students who share their interests or have different ones, and with students who are at the same or different ability levels.

Illustration of school children at their desks

During the 1990s, teachers were also encouraged to present material differently according to a student’s “learning style”—for example, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. But while there have been studies that show students remember more when the same material is presented and reinforced in multiple ways, recent research reviews have found no evidence that individual students can be categorized as learning best through a single type of presentation.

Rick Wormeli, an education consultant and the author of Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom , instead suggests in a 2011 essay in the journal Middle Ground that teachers differentiate based on “learner profiles” : “A learner profile is a set of observations about a student that includes any factor that affects his or her learning, including family dynamics, transiency rate, physical health, emotional health, comfort with technology, leadership qualities, personal interests, and so much more.”

Impacts of Technology

Differentiated and personalized instructional models have also evolved with technological advances, which make it easier to develop and monitor education plans for dozens of students at the same time. The influence of differentiation on school-level programs can be seen in “early warning systems” and student “dashboards” that aim to track individual student performance in real time, as well as initiatives in some schools to develop and monitor individualized learning plans with the student, his or her teachers, and parents.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Advocates of hybrid education models, such as the “flipped classroom” —in which students watch lectures and read material at home and perform practice that would normally be homework during class time—have suggested this could help teachers differentiate by recording and archiving different lectures that students could watch and rewatch as needed, and providing more one-on-one time during class.

Professional Development

By any account, differentiation is considered a complex approach to implement, requiring extensive and ongoing professional development for teachers and administrators.

It required teachers to confront and dismantle their existing, persistent beliefs about teaching and learning ...

In the 2005 longitudinal study that found no consistent implementation of differentiation, researchers noted that “many aspects of differentiation of instruction and assessment (e.g., assigning different work to different students, promoting greater student independence in the classroom) challenged teachers’ beliefs about fairness, about equity, and about how classrooms should be organized to allow students to learn most effectively. As a result, for most teachers, learning to differentiate entailed more than simply learning new practices. It required teachers to confront and dismantle their existing, persistent beliefs about teaching and learning, beliefs that were in large part shared and reinforced by other teachers, principals, parents, the community, and even students.”

In the 2009 book, Professional Development for Differentiating Instruction , Cindy A. Strickland notes that most schools do not provide sufficient training for new and experienced teachers in differentiating instruction.

Ms. Tomlinson said that teachers can begin to differentiate instruction simply by learning more about their students and trying to tailor their teaching as much as they find feasible. “Every significant endeavor seems too hard if we look only at the expert’s product. ... The success of all these ‘seasoned’ people stemmed largely from three factors: They started down a path. They wanted to do better. They kept working toward their goal.”

Including students of disparate abilities and interests also requires the teacher to rethink expectations for all students: “If a teacher uses flexible grouping lesson by lesson and does not assume a student has prior knowledge because he is a ‘higher’ student but really assesses and groups, based on need sometimes and other times by interest, the students will get what they need,” Melinda L. Fattig, a nationally recognized educator and a co-author of the 2008 book Co-Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom , told Teacher magazine that year.

In practice, differentiation is such a broad and multifaceted approach that it has proven difficult to implement properly or study empirically, critics say.

In a 2010 report by the research group McREL, author Bryan Goodwin notes that “to date, no empirical evidence exists to confirm that the total package (e.g., conducting ongoing assessments of student abilities, identifying appropriate content based on those abilities, using flexible grouping arrangements for students, and varying how students can demonstrate proficiency in their learning) has a positive impact on student achievement.” He adds: “One reason for this lack of evidence may simply be that no large-scale, scientific study of differentiated instruction has been conducted.” However, Mr. Goodwin pointed to the 2009 book Visible Learning , which synthesized studies of more than 600 models of personalizing learning based on student interests and prior performance, and found them not much better than general classroom instruction for improving students’ academic performance.

Both in planning time and instructional time, differentiation takes longer than using a single lesson plan for a given topic, and many teachers attempting to differentiate have reported feeling overwhelmed and unable to reach each student equally.

In a 2010 Education Week Commentary essay , Michael J. Schmoker, the author of the 2006 book, Results NOW: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning , says attempts to differentiate instruction frustrated teachers and “seemed to complicate teachers’ work, requiring them to procure and assemble multiple sets of materials” leading to “dumbed-down” teaching.

Likewise, some advocates of gifted education, such as James R. Delisle, have argued that advanced students still are not challenged enough in a differentiated environment, which may vary in the presentation of material but not necessarily in the pace of instruction. He argues that “differentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back.”

“There is no one book, video, presenter, or website that will show everyone how to differentiate instruction. Let’s stop looking for it. One size rarely fits all. Our classrooms are too diverse and our communities too important for such simplistic notions,” Mr. Wormeli said in an interview with Education Week blogger Larry Ferlazzo .

“Instead, let’s realize what differentiation really is: highly effective teaching, which is complex and interwoven; no one element defining it.”

A version of this article appeared in the February 04, 2015 edition of Education Week

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Arts Integration and Differentiated Instruction Examine how arts integration offers “multiple and varied avenues to learning” consistent with the principles of differentiated instruction

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“In arts integrated schools, students constantly move back and forth between different methods of inquiry and observation, symbolic languages, expressive modes, formal curriculum, and their own lives.” 1  –Nick Rabkin and Robin Redmond

Through differentiated instruction “…students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn.” 2  – Carol Ann Tomlinson

“We have tried to be very clear about arts integration – that it is differentiated instruction.” 3  -- a participant in the Community/Schools Partnership for Arts, Sarasota, Florida

Introduction

Classrooms are full of individuals that learn in different ways. For example, some students learn aurally, visually, or kinesthetically. Some learn quickly, others struggle, and still others fall somewhere between. Acknowledging this diversity, many educators are recognizing that it is no longer appropriate to approach teaching as a singular, one-size-fits-all endeavor. Recognizing the wide variance that exists within any group of learners, educators are recommending that teachers offer “multiple and varied avenues to learning.” 4

According to Carol Ann Tomlinson 5 , differentiated instruction is: “a way of thinking about teaching and learning that values the individual…” 6

“Differentiation doesn’t suggest that a teacher can be all things to all individuals all the time. It does, however, mandate that a teacher create a reasonable  range of approaches to learning  much of the time, so that most students find learning a fit much of the time.” 7

Arts integration offers a “range of approaches to learning” aligned with the principles of differentiated instruction. Specifically, arts integration helps students access content, process their learning, create products, and work in a productive and supportive learning environment in ways that take into account individual readiness, interest, and learning profile.

This article provides an overview of the core elements of differentiated instruction 1) beliefs about learning; 2) content, process, and products; 3) learning environment; and examines the alignment with arts integration.

Beliefs about Learning

Differentiated instruction  draws support from research about how people learn and constructivist beliefs about learning. Tomlinson states:

Arts integration  involves students in active learning, decision making, and problem solving through the creative process in which students construct and demonstrate their understandings.

Arts integration is also recognized for providing learning experiences that are engaging, relevant, and interesting, and as a result, meaningful and highly motivating. Creating in an art form is naturally engaging. When students bring their personal voice, vision, and interests to bear on their learning, it results in increased motivation, sense of ownership and pride in their work, and the development of valued habits of mind. 10

In  Critical Evidence , Sandra Ruppert points to the link between the arts, motivation, and other outcomes valued for learning:

Rabkin and Redmond add further support to Ruppert’s statement:

Further, Tomlinson suggests that differentiated instruction is strongest when teachers use “concept-based teaching” in which they focus on essential and meaningful key concepts and principles rather than trying to cover many facts. Working with concepts, the “building blocks of meaning,” helps students to:

“(1) understand rather than memorize, (2) retain ideas and facts longer because they are more meaningful, (3) make connections between subjects and facets of a single subject, (4) relate ideas to their own lives, (5) build networks of meaning for effectively dealing with future knowledge” 13

Arts integration is an example of concept-based teaching. Big ideas are the focus of connections between an art form and another area of study. For example, conflict is examined through theater and history, pattern is examined through music and math, and transformation is examined through dance and science. Students learn and apply facts that support the big ideas. Teachers report that arts integration helps students build understanding, retain those understandings, and make meaningful connections to their own lives:

“I have seen that children who participate in arts integration showed longer retention of concepts and found deeper meaning in the curriculum presented. Children can synthesize basic information and infer deeper meaning as to why things happen, not just spew back rote information.” 14

Content, Process, and Products

According to Tomlinson, the primary intent of  differentiated instruction  is to “maximize student capacity.” 15  To accomplish this, teachers can differentiate their instruction related to three classroom elements: content, process, and products.

  • Content— what  is taught (information, ideas, skills) or  access  to what they should learn. 16
  • Process—short-term activities that students engage to  make sense of  or process the content. 17
  • Products—culminating projects that represent a student’s understandings and the application of those understandings gained across a longer learning segment (i.e., a unit, semester). 18

Each of the three elements can be further differentiated by a student’s readiness, interests, and learning profile. 19

Arts integration  offers a range of languages and symbol systems that provide alternative ways to encode and access information. For example, teachers and students use the language and symbols of line, shape, color, texture, and form in the visual arts; the language of physical and vocal expression in drama/theater; the language of movement in dance; and the language of rhythm, melody, and pattern in music. The arts with their alternative languages and symbol systems engage all students, particularly struggling learners that are typically not reached through traditional teaching methods. 20

The arts also draw on a range of learning modalities (visual, aural, kinesthetic) and intelligences (e.g., bodily/kinesthetic, spatial, visual, musical). For example, drama communicates visually, aurally, and kinesthetically and draws on interpersonal, intrapersonal, and linguistic intelligences. Dance communicates visually, kinesthetically, and aurally (if music is used) and draws on bodily/kinesthetic, spatial, and musical intelligences.

The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities points to several reasons for the growing interest in arts integration, including:

“the compatibility of arts integration methods with newer research findings about learning including  personalization , repetition and reinforcement through  multiple modalities , fluency with  symbol systems , and the continuum of stages from concrete to representational to abstract.” 21

Process and Products

Through  arts integration , students use alternative ways (e.g., dancing, acting, writing, speaking, drawing, singing) to make sense of content they are learning and to demonstrate their understandings.

Arts integration offers in-process sense-making activities as well as culminating summative products. For example, during a unit, students may create short movement improvisations to make sense of the concepts of a planet’s axis and rotation in the solar system. If these improvisations are created at the beginning of the unit, they offer a way for the teacher to assess a student’s readiness/prior knowledge. When students create the improvisations within the unit, they demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do. These in-process improvisations are valuable formative assessments that teachers use to guide decisions about the additional level of support students need as well as the next instructional steps. For students, these in-process improvisations help them reflect on and clarify their understandings and to assess and revise their work so that it better demonstrates their understandings (in both science and dance). At the end of an arts integration unit, students create products that demonstrate their understandings of the concepts, knowledge, and skills learned across an entire unit. As such, these products provide summative assessments.

In all cases, students are engaged in the creative process. The creative process, by its very nature, is naturally differentiated. It allows varied degrees of sophistication in how students make sense of information. It is flexible; students can enter the creative process at different places and move within it at different rates. It can be adapted for different levels of readiness, interests, and types of participation. But, wherever a student is on a continuum of learning, and whatever his/her interests and learning style, the student can participate in meaningful ways, be given support, and challenged to move ahead.

A study about the impact of The Kennedy Center’s Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program, an arts integration program serving 16 schools in the Washington DC metropolitan area, indicated:

“Across all three years of this evaluation, more than 90 percent of the teacher survey respondents used arts integration most frequently to help students  demonstrate understanding in different ways and to address a variety of learning styles .” 22

In arts integration, the quality of students’ work in the art form is as critical as the quality of their work in the other subject area. The teacher invests time to help students develop the knowledge and skills in an art form so that they can use it authentically to demonstrate their understandings. For example, before students write a song about a science concept, they learn the basic skills and vocabulary needed to create a quality song (e.g., musical form, rhythm and rhyme patterns). Before students create a dance to demonstrate their understanding of math concepts, they learn some basic dance skills and vocabulary (e.g., body, space, energy, time, choreographic structures). The investment in teaching a baseline of art form knowledge and skills results in more authentic work—higher quality products and communication that is more nuanced.

In other words, differentiated instruction that aligns with arts integration is not the same as differentiated instruction that aligns with arts-enhanced learning where learning objectives are met in the other subject area, but not in the art form.

For teachers to use arts integration as a strategy for differentiating instruction requires that teachers gain a baseline of knowledge about an art form. The authors of  Third Space: When Learning Matters  describe the results of a study of teachers’ attitudes about learning more about the arts:

“Teachers reported that they are motivated to take on the often challenging task of increasing their competence in an art form as part of their teaching because of the  insights the arts give them into the individual differences of their students  and the increased satisfaction that it provides them as teachers.” 23

Learning Environment

In addition to focusing on beliefs about learning, and content, process and products,  differentiated instruction  also highlights the importance of a supportive classroom environment. Overall, in differentiated instruction, the teacher’s goal is to build a sense of community where each student is welcomed, feels safe and respected, and respects others.

“…the teacher leads his students in developing the sorts of attitudes, beliefs and practices that would characterize a really good neighborhood.” 24

Arts integration classrooms  feel like supportive neighborhoods. They strive to be warm, welcoming, and safe places so that students can risk and try new things. Teachers encourage choice and honor the individual’s voice. In these classrooms, instruction focuses on what students can do.

“Learning in the arts helps students to develop a sense of self-efficacy, a feeling that they can be agents of their own learning and they can make positive change in their own lives and in their surroundings.” 25

Differentiated instruction places a premium on teachers getting to know their students. Arts integration provides a way for teachers to do that:

“Teachers … described learning about students through their art work as an illuminating and important outcome of the arts integrated units in their classrooms. The works that emerged made visible students’ backgrounds, understandings, and skills that often had been hidden, allowing teachers to see how they could build on what students know and to engage them more actively in learning.” 26

Neither differentiated instruction nor arts integration classrooms is chaotic. The classrooms are lively places full of orchestrated and disciplined energy. Teachers give careful attention to classroom management structures and routines that enable students to be active, engaged, and highly focused.

In both differentiated instruction and arts integration, the classroom’s physical environment is flexible. In arts integration, furniture is moved to allow for movement, theatrical or dance improvisations, or for various groupings. Students carry out routines for efficiently and quietly setting and re-setting furniture. Teachers organize materials and establish efficient routines for distribution and clean-up. The classroom reflects a student-centered focus with interesting displays documenting students’ creative process and the products they have created.

In both differentiated instruction and arts integration there is a dynamic interplay of challenge and support. In differentiated instruction, Tomlinson describes a “pervasive expectation of growth” 27  and a persistent, gentle push for students to tackle the next level of knowledge and skill, supported with appropriate scaffolds. 28  In arts integration, teachers expect students to meet evolving objectives in both the art form and the other subject area. This push to reach the next level of knowledge and skills is pervasive. The teacher often moves among the students, listening to their conversations, assessing their understanding, clarifying ideas, and offering support to push them ahead.

Arts integration is one of a range of approaches for differentiating instruction. Similar beliefs about effective learning—active learning, choice, problem-solving, engagement, and relevance—guide both arts integration and differentiated instruction. Both offer sense-making activities and opportunities to create products that help students construct and demonstrate their understandings. Both honor the range of learners that inhabit our classrooms by offering alternative avenues for learning that take into account students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

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Editors & Producers

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Works Cited

  • Nick Rabkin and Robin Redmond eds.,  Putting the Arts in the Picture: Reframing Education in the 21st Century , (Chicago, IL: Columbia College Chicago, 2004), 128.
  • Carol Ann Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 2nd ed., (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development/ASCD, 2001), 1.
  • Arts Education Partnership,  Creating Quality Integrated and Interdisciplinary Arts Programs: Report of the Arts Education Partnership National Forum, 2002.  (Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership, 2003), 7.
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 9.
  • http://www.caroltomlinson.com
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 1. Carol Ann Tomlinson,  Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades . ERIC Digest. www.ericdigests.org/2001/elementary.html
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 17.
  • Lauren M. Stevenson and Richard J. Deasy,  Third Space: When Learning Matters , (Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership, 2005), 28-36.
  • Sandra S. Ruppert,  Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement , (Washington DC: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 2006), 14.
  • Rabkin and Redmond,  Putting the Arts in the Picture , 134.
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 74.
  • Comment by Laura Roberts, Abingdon Elementary School, Arlington Public Schools (VA), Kennedy Center/CETA Certificate of Study, 2011.
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms ,11.
  • Readiness refers to the level of knowledge, skills, and understanding of a particular area of study. Interests refers to a student’s curiosity or passion to learn, and learning profile refers to the student’s preferred way of learning (i.e., how a student learns most effectively and efficiently).
  • Rabkin and Redmond,  Putting the Arts in the Picture , 8.
  • President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities,  Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future through Creative Schools , (Washington DC, May 2011), 40.
  • Joan Isenberg, Jennifer McCreadie with Jennifer Durham and Bernadine Pearson,  Changing Education Through the Arts: Final Evaluation Report 2005-2008  (Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, College of Education and Human Development, 2009), 17.
  • Stevenson and Deasy,  Third Space , 75.
  • Tomlinson,  How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , 21-24.
  • Stevenson and Deasy,  Third Space , 32-33.

January 14, 2020

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What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instruction in the Classroom

Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, every student has an individual learning style. Chances are, not all of your students grasp a subject in the same way or share the same level of ability. So how can you better deliver your lessons to reach everyone in class? Consider differentiated instruction—a method you may have heard about but haven’t explored, which is why you’re here. In this article, learn exactly what it means, how it works, and the pros and cons.

Infographic: What is differentiated instruction? Carol Ann Tomlinson is a leader in the area of differentiated learning and professor of educational leadership, foundations, and policy at the University of Virginia. Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. Four ways to differentiate instruction: Content, product, process, and learning environment. Pros and cons of differentiated instruction.

Definition of differentiated instruction

Carol Ann Tomlinson is a leader in the area of differentiated learning and professor of educational leadership, foundations, and policy at the University of Virginia. Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. Research on the effectiveness of differentiation shows this method benefits a wide range of students, from those with learning disabilities to those who are considered high ability.

Differentiating instruction may mean teaching the same material to all students using a variety of instructional strategies, or it may require the teacher to deliver lessons at varying levels of difficulty based on the ability of each student.

Teachers who practice differentiation in the classroom may:

  • Design lessons based on students’ learning styles.
  • Group students by shared interest, topic, or ability for assignments.
  • Assess students’ learning using formative assessment.
  • Manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive environment.
  • Continually assess and adjust lesson content to meet students’ needs.

History of differentiated instruction

The roots of differentiated instruction go all the way back to the days of the one-room schoolhouse, where one teacher had students of all ages in one classroom. As the educational system transitioned to grading schools, it was assumed that children of the same age learned similarly. However in 1912, achievement tests were introduced, and the scores revealed the gaps in student’s abilities within grade levels.

In 1975, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ensuring that children with disabilities had equal access to public education. To reach this student population, many educators used differentiated instruction strategies. Then came the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2000, which further encouraged differentiated and skill-based instruction—and that’s because it works. Research by educator Leslie Owen Wilson supports differentiating instruction within the classroom, finding that lecture is the least effective instructional strategy, with only 5 to 10 percent retention after 24 hours. Engaging in a discussion, practicing after exposure to content, and teaching others are much more effective ways to ensure learning retention.

Four ways to differentiate instruction

According to Tomlinson, teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways: 1) content, 2) process, 3) product, and 4) learning environment.

As you already know, fundamental lesson content should cover the standards of learning set by the school district or state educational standards. But some students in your class may be completely unfamiliar with the concepts in a lesson, some students may have partial mastery, and some students may already be familiar with the content before the lesson begins.

What you could do is differentiate the content by designing activities for groups of students that cover various levels of  Bloom’s Taxonomy (a classification of levels of intellectual behavior going from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills). The six levels are: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Students who are unfamiliar with a lesson could be required to complete tasks on the lower levels: remembering and understanding. Students with some mastery could be asked to apply and analyze the content, and students who have high levels of mastery could be asked to complete tasks in the areas of evaluating and creating.

Examples of differentiating activities:

  • Match vocabulary words to definitions.
  • Read a passage of text and answer related questions.
  • Think of a situation that happened to a character in the story and a different outcome.
  • Differentiate fact from opinion in the story.
  • Identify an author’s position and provide evidence to support this viewpoint.
  • Create a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the lesson.

Each student has a preferred learning style, and successful differentiation includes delivering the material to each style: visual, auditory and kinesthetic, and through words. This process-related method also addresses the fact that not all students require the same amount of support from the teacher, and students could choose to work in pairs, small groups, or individually. And while some students may benefit from one-on-one interaction with you or the classroom aide, others may be able to progress by themselves. Teachers can enhance student learning by offering support based on individual needs.

Examples of differentiating the process:

  • Provide textbooks for visual and word learners.
  • Allow auditory learners to listen to audio books.
  • Give kinesthetic learners the opportunity to complete an interactive assignment online.

The product is what the student creates at the end of the lesson to demonstrate the mastery of the content. This can be in the form of tests, projects, reports, or other activities. You could assign students to complete activities that show mastery of an educational concept in a way the student prefers, based on learning style.

Examples of differentiating the end product:

  • Read and write learners write a book report.
  • Visual learners create a graphic organizer of the story.
  • Auditory learners give an oral report.
  • Kinesthetic learners build a diorama illustrating the story.

4. Learning environment

The conditions for optimal learning include both physical and psychological elements. A flexible classroom layout is key, incorporating various types of furniture and arrangements to support both individual and group work. Psychologically speaking, teachers should use classroom management techniques that support a safe and supportive learning environment.

Examples of differentiating the environment:

  • Break some students into reading groups to discuss the assignment.
  • Allow students to read individually if preferred.
  • Create quiet spaces where there are no distractions.

Pros and cons of differentiated instruction

The benefits of differentiation in the classroom are often accompanied by the drawback of an ever-increasing workload. Here are a few factors to keep in mind:

  • Research shows differentiated instruction is effective for high-ability students as well as students with mild to severe disabilities.
  • When students are given more options on how they can learn material, they take on more responsibility for their own learning.
  • Students appear to be more engaged in learning, and there are reportedly fewer discipline problems in classrooms where teachers provide differentiated lessons.
  • Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers struggle to find the extra time in their schedule.
  • The learning curve can be steep and some schools lack professional development resources.
  • Critics argue there isn’t enough research to support the benefits of differentiated instruction outweighing the added prep time.

Differentiated instruction strategies

What differentiated instructional strategies can you use in your classroom? There are a set of methods that can be tailored and used across the different subjects. According to Kathy Perez (2019) and the Access Center those strategies are tiered assignments, choice boards, compacting, interest centers/groups, flexible grouping, and learning contracts. Tiered assignments are designed to teach the same skill but have the students create a different product to display their knowledge based on their comprehension skills. Choice boards allow students to choose what activity they would like to work on for a skill that the teacher chooses. On the board are usually options for the different learning styles; kinesthetic, visual, auditory, and tactile. Compacting allows the teacher to help students reach the next level in their learning when they have already mastered what is being taught to the class. To compact the teacher assesses the student’s level of knowledge, creates a plan for what they need to learn, excuses them from studying what they already know, and creates free time for them to practice an accelerated skill.

Interest centers or groups are a way to provide autonomy in student learning. Flexible grouping allows the groups to be more fluid based on the activity or topic.  Finally, learning contracts are made between a student and teacher, laying out the teacher’s expectations for the necessary skills to be demonstrated and the assignments required components with the student putting down the methods they would like to use to complete the assignment. These contracts can allow students to use their preferred learning style, work at an ideal pace and encourages independence and planning skills. The following are strategies for some of the core subject based on these methods.

Differentiated instruction strategies for math

  • Provide students with a choice board. They could have the options to learn about probability by playing a game with a peer, watching a video, reading the textbook, or working out problems on a worksheet.
  • Teach mini lessons to individuals or groups of students who didn’t grasp the concept you were teaching during the large group lesson. This also lends time for compacting activities for those who have mastered the subject.
  • Use manipulatives, especially with students that have more difficulty grasping a concept.
  • Have students that have already mastered the subject matter create notes for students that are still learning.
  • For students that have mastered the lesson being taught, require them to give in-depth, step-by-step explanation of their solution process, while not being rigid about the process with students who are still learning the basics of a concept if they arrive at the correct answer.

Differentiated instruction strategies for science

  • Emma McCrea (2019) suggests setting up “Help Stations,” where peers assist each other. Those that have more knowledge of the subject will be able to teach those that are struggling as an extension activity and those that are struggling will receive.
  • Set up a “question and answer” session during which learners can ask the teacher or their peers questions, in order to fill in knowledge gaps before attempting the experiment.
  • Create a visual word wall. Use pictures and corresponding labels to help students remember terms.
  • Set up interest centers. When learning about dinosaurs you might have an “excavation” center, a reading center, a dinosaur art project that focuses on their anatomy, and a video center.
  • Provide content learning in various formats such as showing a video about dinosaurs, handing out a worksheet with pictures of dinosaurs and labels, and providing a fill-in-the-blank work sheet with interesting dinosaur facts.

Differentiated instruction strategies for ELL

  • ASCD (2012) writes that all teachers need to become language teachers so that the content they are teaching the classroom can be conveyed to the students whose first language is not English.
  • Start by providing the information in the language that the student speaks then pairing it with a limited amount of the corresponding vocabulary in English.
  •  Although ELL need a limited amount of new vocabulary to memorize, they need to be exposed to as much of the English language as possible. This means that when teaching, the teacher needs to focus on verbs and adjectives related to the topic as well.
  • Group work is important. This way they are exposed to more of the language. They should, however, be grouped with other ELL if possible as well as given tasks within the group that are within their reach such as drawing or researching.

Differentiated instruction strategies for reading

  • Tiered assignments can be used in reading to allow the students to show what they have learned at a level that suites them. One student might create a visual story board while another student might write a book report. 
  • Reading groups can pick a book based on interest or be assigned based on reading level
  • Erin Lynch (2020) suggest that teachers scaffold instruction by giving clear explicit explanations with visuals. Verbally and visually explain the topic. Use anchor charts, drawings, diagrams, and reference guides to foster a clearer understanding. If applicable, provide a video clip for students to watch.
  • Utilize flexible grouping. Students might be in one group for phonics based on their assessed level but choose to be in another group for reading because they are more interested in that book.

Differentiated instruction strategies for writing

  • Hold writing conferences with your students either individually or in small groups. Talk with them throughout the writing process starting with their topic and moving through grammar, composition, and editing.
  • Allow students to choose their writing topics. When the topic is of interest, they will likely put more effort into the assignment and therefore learn more.
  • Keep track of and assess student’s writing progress continually throughout the year. You can do this using a journal or a checklist. This will allow you to give individualized instruction.
  • Hand out graphic organizers to help students outline their writing. Try fill-in-the-blank notes that guide the students through each step of the writing process for those who need additional assistance.
  • For primary grades give out lined paper instead of a journal. You can also give out differing amounts of lines based on ability level. For those who are excelling at writing give them more lines or pages to encourage them to write more. For those that are still in the beginning stages of writing, give them less lines so that they do not feel overwhelmed.

Differentiated instruction strategies for special education

  • Use a multi-sensory approach. Get all five senses involved in your lessons, including taste and smell!
  • Use flexible grouping to create partnerships and teach students how to work collaboratively on tasks. Create partnerships where the students are of equal ability, partnerships where once the student will be challenged by their partner and another time they will be pushing and challenging their partner.
  • Assistive technology is often an important component of differential instruction in special education. Provide the students that need them with screen readers, personal tablets for communication, and voice recognition software.
  • The article Differentiation & LR Information for SAS Teachers suggests teachers be flexible when giving assessments “Posters, models, performances, and drawings can show what they have learned in a way that reflects their personal strengths”. You can test for knowledge using rubrics instead of multiple-choice questions, or even build a portfolio of student work. You could also have them answer questions orally.
  • Utilize explicit modeling. Whether its notetaking, problem solving in math, or making a sandwich in home living, special needs students often require a step-by-step guide to make connections.

References and resources

  • https://www.thoughtco.com/differentiation-instruction-in-special-education-3111026
  • https://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/differentiation-techniques-for-special-education
  • https://www.solutiontree.com/blog/differentiated-reading-instruction/
  • https://www.readingrockets.org/article/differentiated-instruction-reading
  • https://www.sadlier.com/school/ela-blog/13-ideas-for-differentiated-reading-instruction-in-the-elementary-classroom
  • https://inservice.ascd.org/seven-strategies-for-differentiating-instruction-for-english-learners/
  • https://www.cambridge.org/us/education/blog/2019/11/13/three-approaches-differentiation-primary-science/
  • https://www.brevardschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=6174&dataid=8255&FileName=Differentiated_Instruction_in_Secondary_Mathematics.pdf

Books & Videos about differentiated instruction by Carol Ann Tomlinson and others

  • The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition
  • Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau
  • The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Changes in Teaching and Learning – Carol Ann Tomlinson, Kay Brimijoin, and Lane Narvaez
  • Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and Kids – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe
  • Differentiation in Practice Grades K-5: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Caroline Cunningham Eidson
  • Differentiation in Practice Grades 5–9: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Caroline Cunningham Eidson
  • Differentiation in Practice Grades 9–12: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Cindy A. Strickland
  • Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and Tools for Responsive Teaching – Carol Ann Tomlinson
  • Leadership for Differentiating Schools and Classrooms – Carol Ann Tomlinson and Susan Demirsky Allan
  • How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms, 3rd Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson
  • Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Tonya R. Moon
  • How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed Ability Classrooms 2nd Edition – Carol Ann Tomlinson
  • How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms 3rd Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson 
  • Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom Paperback – Carol Ann Tomlinson, Tonya R. Moon
  • Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom (Professional Development) 1st Edition – Carol Ann Tomlinson, Marcia B. Imbeau
  • The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Changes in Teaching and Learning 1st Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Kay Brimijoin, Lane Narvaez
  • Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom  – David A. Sousa, Carol Ann Tomlinson
  • Leading for Differentiation: Growing Teachers Who Grow Kids – Carol Ann Tomlinson, Michael Murphy
  • An Educator’s Guide to Differentiating Instruction. 10th Edition – Carol Ann Tomlinson, James M. Cooper
  • A Differentiated Approach to the Common Core: How do I help a broad range of learners succeed with a challenging curriculum? – Carol Ann Tomlinson, Marcia B. Imbeau
  • Managing a Differentiated Classroom: A Practical Guide – Carol Tomlinson, Marcia Imbeau
  • Differentiating Instruction for Mixed-Ability Classrooms: An ASCD Professional Inquiry Kit Pck Edition – Carol Ann Tomlinson
  • Using Differentiated Classroom Assessment to Enhance Student Learning (Student Assessment for Educators) 1st Edition – Tonya R. Moon, Catherine M. Brighton, Carol A. Tomlinson
  • The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners 1st Edition – Carol Ann Tomlinson

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Exceptional Thinkers

What Is Differentiated Instruction and Why Is It Important?

What Is Differentiated Instruction and Why Is It Important?

What is differentiated instruction? How do teachers differentiate instruction with a classroom full of diverse learners? Read on to find out.

If you’ve visited my blog before, you may have noticed that differentiating instruction is an important topic to me. I often talk about ways to differentiate material and provide helpful tips . New teachers may find themselves wondering, “What is differentiated instruction anyway?”

What is Differentiated Instruction?

Differentiated instruction is when a lesson is tailored to meet more than one academic level. We can’t expect our students to all be on the same level, so why would we design our lessons that way ? Differentiated instruction allows us to zero in more closely on individual needs. Through tiered lessons, we are better able to understand our students abilities and needs.

Why is Differentiated Instruction Important?

What Is Differentiated Instruction?

Larger class sizes make it more difficult to zero in on individual student needs. In a large class, it’s easier for a student to slip between the cracks. A quiet child who hasn’t mastered the material can easily go unnoticed until a formal assessment. While working with a large group, it’s difficult to zero in on students who need extra support or enrichment.

Why Don’t Teachers Differentiate Instruction All The Time?

Breaking the class up into smaller groups allows us to provide differentiated content at various academic levels. Most teachers know that differentiating instruction is a good practice. So why doesn’t everyone do it?

Teachers feel like they don’t have the time to meet the needs of every individual student. They’re busy and stressed. Teachers are overworked and underpaid . They barely have time to catch their breath. Teacher tired is a real thing. And there’s always some new “best practice” being pushed on them.

As a result, they “teach to the middle” and call it a day. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but there’s room for improvement.

Teaching to the Middle

What does it mean to “teach to the middle?” Basically, it’s when a teacher designs their lesson plans for the average student. Most teachers teach to the middle out of necessity. Teaching to the middle has been the go- to solution for teachers since the earliest school days.

Honestly, teaching to the middle isn’t a bad approach since it does accommodate most of the class. After all, most students do fall into the average range.

But what about the students outside of the average range? When we teach to the middle, higher and lower achieving students get left behind. Gifted students need more challenging activities while lower performing students require additional support.

Improving the “Teach to the Middle” Approach

Designing your lessons for “the middle,” or the average student population, is a great place to start. To accommodate individual needs better, just take that approach a bit further.

Try thinking of how you can make different versions of the same lesson. Nothing crazy, no dramatic changes, just slightly altered versions of the same lesson. How can you push your gifted students to delve deeper into the topic? What kinds of supports can you add to aid students in need of extra help?

Break your class into three groups and try working on the lesson with these different versions. One way to do this is to have all three groups work on it at the same time. Another option is to rotate your groups and have them work on the lesson one at a time while the other two groups do independent work, silent reading, or center activities. I like implementing differentiated instruction via centers .

More Differentiated Group Activities

For your more advanced students, think of how you can extend the concepts of that activity. Is there more information on that topic that they can explore more deeply? Is there a project that they can work on? How can they apply the concepts and skills at a more challenging level?

For students in need of additional support, think about how you can break up the lesson’s concepts into smaller parts. Can you make activities to address these smaller parts?

A Freebie to Make Differentiation a Breeze

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Other posts from Exceptional Thinkers that you may like:

  • How to Differentiate Instruction
  • Differentiate Instruction Like a Pro
  • How Many Skills Can You Teach in 5 Minutes a Day?
  • Are Teachers Prepared to Teach Special Education?
  • Master Small Group Instruction (with Free Differentiation Tools)

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  • Carol Ann Tomlinson

Carol Ann Tomlinson quotes

“Differentiation is simply a teacher attending to the learning needs of a particular student or small groups of students, rather than teaching a class as though all individuals in it were basically alike.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Teaching Quotes #Class Quotes

“Differentiated Instruction is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences. Rather than marching students through the curriculum lockstep, teachers should modify their instruction to meet students' varying readiness levels, learning preferences, and interests. Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to 'get it' and express learning.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Philosophy Quotes #Teaching Quotes

“Differentiation is classroom practice that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Kids Quotes #Reality Quotes

“When challenge and skills are in balance the activity is its own reward” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Skills Quotes #Challenges Quotes #Balance Quotes

“Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Mean Quotes #Assessment Quotes #Today Quotes

“As a teacher, it is your job to make explicit whatever you though was implicit” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Jobs Quotes #Explicit Quotes

“A teacher in a differentiated classroom does not classify herself as someone who ‘already differentiates instruction.’ Rather that teacher is fully aware that every hour of teaching, every day in the classroom can reveal one more way to make the classroom a better match for its learners.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

Source : Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001). “How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, 2nd Edition”, p.29, ASCD

#Teacher Quotes #Teaching Quotes #Way Quotes

“In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students are, not the front of a curriculum guide.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Curriculum Quotes #Students Quotes

“Readiness is a student’s entry point relative to a particular understanding or skill.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Skills Quotes #Understanding Quotes #Students Quotes

“Interest refers to student’s affinity, curiosity, or passion for a particular topic or skill.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Passion Quotes #Skills Quotes #Curiosity Quotes

“Plan to be better today, but don't ever plan to be finished” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

Source : Carol Ann Tomlinson (2014). “The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition”, p.10, ASCD

#Teaching Quotes #Learning Quotes #Today Quotes

“A gifted teacher has an unfailing eye for magical classrooms & loses sleep over anything less than the highest quality.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

#Teacher Quotes #Teaching Quotes #Sleep Quotes

“It is not so important to have all the answers as to be hungry for them.” -- Carol Ann Tomlinson

Source : Carol Ann Tomlinson (2014). “Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition”, p.48, ASCD

#Teaching Quotes #Important Quotes #Answers Quotes

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15 Shareable Learning Design and Development Quotes

differentiated learning quotes

Here is a list of are some of the best quotes about training, success and learning. What are your favorite sharable learning quotes? Share them in the comments below!

"The most basic way to get someone's attention is this: Break a pattern. Humans adapt incredibly quickly to consistent patterns.” ― Chip Heath , Author and Speaker, Made to Stick (Tweet this)

“practice design, not decoration: don’t just make pretty talking points. instead, display information in a way that makes complex information clear.” — nancy duarte , speaker and ceo, duarte (tweet this), "the mediocre teacher tells. the good teacher explains. the superior teacher demonstrates. the great teacher inspires." —william arthur ward
, author (tweet this), "boring and effective are mutually exclusive attributes in learning."   — michael allen , chairman & ceo, allen interactions (tweet this), “the brain remembers the emotional component of an experience better than any other aspect.”     — john medina , author, brain rules
 (tweet this), “people expect to be bored by e-learning—let’s show them it doesn’t have to be like that”   — cammy bean , vp of learning design, kineo (tweet this), "best way to respect learners: use techniques that research has proven to work. help people reach their goals without wasting their time.”  — cathy moore , saving the world from boring training (tweet this), “a designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” —antoine de saint-exupéry
, writer and poet (tweet this), “the interactivity we design for e-learning must require the learner to do something that is cognitively demanding and that leads to improved performance.”   — ethan edwards , chief instructional strategist, allen interactions (tweet this), “clutter is a failure of design, not an attribute of information.” — edward tufte
 , statistician and professor (tweet this), “learning is more effective when it is active rather than a passive process.” —kurt lewin
, psycologist (tweet this), “think about what your learners need to do with that information after the course is finished and design around that.” — matthew guyan , learning and development practitioner (tweet this), “if learners think it looks bad, you may have lost a good percentage of the battle in getting them to pay attention.” — patti shank , director of research, elearning guild (tweet this), "curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning." —william a. ward, author (tweet this), “tell me and i forget, teach me and i may remember, involve me and i learn.” —benjamin franklin (tweet this).

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Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction involves teaching in a way that meets the different needs and interests of students using varied course content, activities, and assessments.

Teaching differently to different students

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is fundamentally the attempt to teach differently to different students, rather than maintain a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction. Other frameworks, such as Universal Design for Learning , enjoin instructors to give students broad choice and agency to meet their diverse needs and interests. DI distinctively emphasizes instructional methods to promote learning for students entering a course with different readiness for, interest in, and ways of engaging with course learning based on their prior learning experiences ( Dosch and Zidon 2014). 

Successful implementation of DI requires ongoing training, assessment, and monitoring (van Geel et al. 2019) and has been shown to be effective in meeting students’ different needs, readiness levels, and interests (Turner et al. 2017). Below, you can find six categories of DI instructional practices that span course design and live teaching.

While some of the strategies are best used together, not all of them are meant to be used at once, as the flexibility inherent to these approaches means that some of them are diverging when used in combination (e.g., constructing homogenous student groups necessitates giving different types of activities and assessments; constructing heterogeneous student groups may pair well with peer tutoring) (Pozas et al. 2020). The learning environment the instructor creates with students has also been shown to be an important part of successful DI implementation (Shareefa et al. 2019). 

Differentiated Assessment

Differentiated assessment is an aspect of Differentiated Instruction that focuses on tailoring the ways in which students can demonstrate their progress to their varied strengths and ways of learning. Instead of testing recall of low-level information, instructors should focus on the use of knowledge and complex reasoning. Differentiation should inform not only the design of instructors’ assessments, but also how they interpret the results and use them to inform their DI practices. 

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Steps to consider

There are generally considered to be six categories of useful differentiated instruction and assessment practices (Pozas & Schneider 2019):

  • Making assignments that have tasks and materials that are qualitatively and/or quantitatively varied (according to “challenge level, complexity, outcome, process, product, and/or resources”) (IP Module 2: Integrating Peer-to-Peer Learning) It’s helpful to assess student readiness and interest by collecting data at the beginning of the course, as well as to conduct periodic check-ins throughout the course (Moallemi 2023 & Pham 2011)
  • Making student working groups that are intentionally chosen (that are either homogeneous or heterogeneous based on “performance, readiness, interests, etc.”) (IP Module 2: Integrating Peer-to-Peer Learning) Examples of how to make different student groups provided by Stanford CTL  (Google Doc)
  • Making tutoring systems within the working group where students teach each other (IP Module 2: Integrating Peer-to-Peer Learning) For examples of how to support peer instruction, and the benefits of doing so, see for example Tullis & Goldstone 2020 and Peer Instruction for Active Learning (LSA Technology Services, University of Michigan)
  • Making non-verbal learning aids that are staggered to provide support to students in helping them get to the next step in the learning process (only the minimal amount of information that is needed to help them get there is provided, and this step is repeated each time it’s needed) (IP Module 4: Making Success Accessible) Non-verbal cue cards support students’ self-regulation, as they can monitor and control their progress as they work (Pozas & Schneider 2019)
  • Making instructional practices that ensure all students meet at least the minimum standards and that more advanced students meet higher standards , which involves monitoring students’ learning process carefully (IP Module 4: Making Success Accessible; IP Module 5: Giving Inclusive Assessments) This type of approach to student assessment can be related to specifications grading, where students determine the grade they want and complete the modules that correspond to that grade, offering additional motivation to and reduced stress for students and additional flexibility and time-saving practices to instructors (Hall 2018)
  • Making options that support student autonomy in being responsible for their learning process and choosing material to work on (e.g., students can choose tasks, project-based learning, portfolios, and/or station work, etc.) (IP Module 4: Making Success Accessible) This option, as well as the others, fits within a general Universal Design Learning framework , which is designed to improve learning for everyone using scientific insights about human learning

Hall, M (2018). “ What is Specifications Grading and Why Should You Consider Using It? ” The Innovator Instructor blog, John Hopkins University Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation.

Moallemi, R. (2023). “ The Relationship between Differentiated Instruction and Learner Levels of Engagement at University .” Journal of Research in Integrated Teaching and Learning (ahead of print).

Pham, H. (2011). “ Differentiated Instruction and the Need to Integrate Teaching and Practice .” Journal of College Teaching and Learning , 9(1), 13-20.

Pozas, M. & Schneider, C. (2019). " Shedding light into the convoluted terrain of differentiated instruction (DI): Proposal of a taxonomy of differentiated instruction in the heterogeneous classroom ." Open Education Studies , 1, 73–90.

Pozas, M., Letzel, V. and Schneider, C. (2020). " Teachers and differentiated instruction: exploring differentiation practices to address student diversity ." Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs , 20: 217-230.

Shareefa, M. et al. (2019). “ Differentiated Instruction: Definition and Challenging Factors Perceived by Teachers .” Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2019). 

Tullis, J.G. & Goldstone, R.L. (2020). “ Why does peer instruction benefit student learning? ”, Cognitive Research 5 .

Turner, W.D., Solis, O.J., and Kincade, D.H. (2017). “ Differentiating Instruction for Large Classes in Higher Education ”, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education , 29(3), 490-500.

van Geel, M., Keuning, T., Frèrejean, J., Dolmans, D., van Merriënboer, J., & Visscher A.J. (2019). “Capturing the complexity of differentiated instruction”, School Effectiveness and School Improvement , 30:1, 51-67, DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2018.1539013

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Succeeding With Differentiation

Differentiating instruction isn’t easy, but teachers and professional learning facilitators can work together to overcome the obstacles.

A group of five students working together in a classroom, their teacher sitting at a desk doing paperwork in the background

Student voice is a hot topic in education, which makes me exceedingly happy—I’ve always thought that students were an educational stakeholder group that needed to be heard.

However, as a former teacher beginning my second year as a full-time consultant working with K–12 educators on differentiating instruction, I’ve come to realize that there’s another group of stakeholders whose voices are as important as students’, if not more so: teachers.

Honoring Teacher Expertise

For several decades now, differentiation has been on many school districts’ lists of prioritized initiatives. The workshops I facilitate are typically not teachers’ first professional learning on differentiation. Yet differentiation is still an initiative in many districts, not a long-settled policy. Why?

The answer to this question is multifaceted. The traditional A-F grading system doesn’t lend itself easily to differentiation , and tracking students undermines it . However, there’s another significant roadblock to enacting successful, sustainable differentiation initiatives: the pervasive tendency of professional learning facilitators to dismiss teacher voice.

Such facilitators (whether that’s me, an administrator, an instructional coach, or a fellow teacher) are often guilty of inadvertently disregarding participants’ sentiments of struggle. We view these struggles as resistance instead of listening to what teachers say and differentiating our instruction for teachers’ needs accordingly.

In my experience, most examples of teacher resistance are about valid claims, not unfounded complaints. And sometimes the struggles teachers face are with specific practices that are cornerstones of differentiation, which presents a conundrum.

In an effort to help break the cycle of endless differentiation PD and find solutions for common differentiation obstacles, I’ve worked with many teachers to create work-arounds that accomplish the intended goal of the problematic practice and also respect teachers’ professionalism, as illustrated here with two examples.

Obstacle 1: Pre-assessment

Common teacher sentiment: “Pre-assessments take too long to administer, and they frequently just show that  the majority of the class has not mastered the material.”

The plain truth: Pre-assessments can take a lot of instructional time and sometimes provide teachers with little usable data.

Intended goal of pre-assessment: Teachers can use evidence from pre-assessments to plan instruction based on student need. The pre-assessment data will show teachers (among other things) which students have already mastered the material, so teachers can provide them with enrichment, which could take the form of anchor projects co-designed by the teacher and student, or challenges that allow for students to go deeper into the learning intentions by asking more complex questions.

Solution: Differentiate the pre-assessment. Instead of giving all students a time-intensive, whole unit pre-assessment, begin by giving all students a quick formative assessment on the first topic covered in the unit of study. Data from this formative assessment immediately tell teachers which students may have already mastered the content for the entire unit.

Then, give the full unit pre-assessment only to the small group of students who have shown that they have some mastery of the unit content. The results from this pre-assessment will tell teachers if they need to offer students enrichment on all or just some parts of the unit.

For each subsequent topic in the unit, offer quick formative assessments to the students who did not show mastery on the formative assessment covering the first topic. Offer topic enrichment on these topics to students as the need appears.

Obstacle 2: Group Work

Common teacher sentiment: “I struggle with group work and prefer direct instruction.”

The plain truth: About 10 years ago, direct instruction began to get a really bad rap. Teachers were told they needed to be “the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.” However, research indicates that direct instruction is highly effective for student learning.

Intended goal of group work: Students work collaboratively to process and deepen their understanding of content.

Solution: Use a hybrid of direct instruction and cooperative learning. Let’s begin by clarifying a couple of points.

First, direct instruction and lecture are not synonymous. John Hattie has noted that direct instruction done correctly has a greater impact on student learning than group work done incorrectly. Direct instruction is effective when the teacher instructs in short segments, with frequent checks for understanding and opportunities for students to process, practice, and receive feedback.

Second, group work and cooperative learning are not synonymous. Group work is an ambiguous term that encompasses everything from students working on a project together to students sitting in a group but working individually. Cooperative learning is structured so that all group members have equal opportunities to engage in appropriately rigorous learning.

With these clarifications in mind, to create a hybrid of direct instruction and cooperative learning in your classroom, follow these steps:

  • Use formative assessment evidence to determine which students have mastered the material you will cover during direct instruction.
  • Offer any qualifying students enrichment.
  • Continue direct instruction as planned with the remainder of your students.
  • Build in breaks in instruction (every 7–12 minutes depending on the age of your students) to check for understanding and give students an opportunity to practice and process.
  • Incorporate cooperative learning structures like Think-Pair-Share or gallery walks during the breaks in direct instruction.

All teachers want their students to succeed, and all teachers try to make this happen. That is all differentiation is. We complicate differentiation by not allowing ourselves to be provisional with how we apply the foundational pieces of differentiated instruction.

Instead, if we address these four questions in our instructional planning, differentiation will always be the result: What do my students need? How do I know? What will I do to meet their needs? How do I know if what I’m doing is working?

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20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples [+ Downloadable List]

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  • Teaching Strategies

1. Create Learning Stations

2. use task cards, 3. interview students, 4. target different senses within lessons, 5. share your own strengths and weaknesses, 6. use the think-pair-share strategy, 7. make time for journaling, 8. implement reflection and goal-setting exercises, 9. run literature circles, 10. offer different types of free study time, 11. group students with similar learning styles, 12. give different sets of reading comprehension activities, 13. assign open-ended projects, 14. encourage students to propose ideas for their projects, 15. analyze your differentiated instruction strategy on a regular basis, 16. “teach up”, 17. use math edtech that adjusts itself to each student, 18. relate math to personal interests and everyday examples, 19. play a math-focused version of tic-tac-toe, 20. create learning stations, without mandatory rotations.

As students with diverse learning styles fill the classroom, many teachers don’t always have the time, or spend additional hours to plan lessons that use differentiated instruction (DI) to suit students’ unique aptitudes.

Educator Carol Ann Tomlinson puts it beautifully in her book How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms :

Kids of the same age aren't all alike when it comes to learning, any more than they are alike in terms of size, hobbies, personality, or likes and dislikes. Kids do have many things in common because they are human beings and because they are all children, but they also have important differences. What we share in common makes us human. How we differ makes us individuals. In a classroom with little or no differentiated instruction, only student similarities seem to take center stage. In a differentiated classroom, commonalities are acknowledged and built upon, and student differences become important elements in teaching and learning as well.

This can involve adjusting:

  • Content — The media and methods teachers use to impart and instruct skills, ideas and information
  • Processes — The exercises and practices students perform to better understand content
  • Products — The materials, such as tests and projects, students complete to demonstrate understanding

To help create lessons that engage and resonate with a diverse classroom, below are 20 differentiated instruction strategies and examples. Available in a condensed and printable list for your desk, you can use 16 in most classes and the last four for math lessons.

Try the ones that best apply to you, depending on factors such as student age.

Provide different types of content by setting up learning stations — divided sections of your classroom through which groups of students rotate. You can facilitate this with a flexible seating plan .

Each station should use a unique method of teaching a skill or concept related to your lesson.

To compliment your math lessons, for example, many teachers use Prodigy to simplify differentiation .  You’ll deliver specific in-game problems to each student — or distinct student groups — in three quick steps!

Students can rotate between stations that involve:

  • Watching a video
  • Creating artwork
  • Reading an article
  • Completing puzzles
  • Listening to you teach

To help students process the content after they've been through the stations, you can hold a class discussion or assign questions to answer.

Like learning stations, task cards allow you to give students a range of content. Answering task cards can also be a small-group activity , adding variety to classes that normally focus on solo or large-group learning.

First, make or identify tasks and questions that you’d typically find on worksheets or in textbooks.

Second, print and laminate cards that each contain a single task or question. Or, use Teachers Pay Teachers to buy pre-made cards . (Check out Prodigy Education's Teachers Pay Teachers page for free resources!)

Finally, set up stations around your classroom and pair students together to rotate through them.

You can individualize instruction by monitoring the pairs, addressing knowledge gaps when needed.

Asking questions about learning and studying styles can help you pinpoint the kinds of content that will meet your class’s needs.

While running learning stations or a large-group activity , pull each student aside for a few minutes. Ask about:

  • Their favourite types of lessons
  • Their favourite in-class activities
  • Which projects they’re most proud of
  • Which kinds of exercises help them remember key lesson points

Track your results to identify themes and students with uncommon preferences, helping you determine which methods of instruction suit their abilities.

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A lesson should resonate with more students if it targets visual, tactile, auditory and kinesthetic senses, instead of only one.

When applicable, appeal to a range of learning styles by:

  • Playing videos
  • Using infographics
  • Providing audiobooks
  • Getting students to act out a scene
  • Incorporating charts and illustrations within texts
  • Giving both spoken and written directions to tasks
  • Using relevant physical objects, such as money when teaching math skills
  • Allotting time for students to create artistic reflections and interpretations of lessons

Not only will these tactics help more students grasp the core concepts of lessons, but make class more engaging.

Prodigy Math Game , for example, is an engaging way to gamify math class in a way that worksheets simply cannot. 👇

To familiarize students with the idea of differentiated learning, you may find it beneficial to explain that not everyone builds skills and processes information the same way.

Talking about your own strengths and weaknesses is one way of doing this.

Explain -- on a personal level — how you study and review lessons. Share tactics that do and don’t work for you, encouraging students to try them.

Not only should this help them understand that people naturally learn differently, but give them insight into improving how they process information.

The think-pair-share strategy exposes students to three lesson-processing experiences within one activity. It’s also easy to monitor and support students as they complete each step.

As the strategy’s name implies, start by asking students to individually think about a given topic or answer a specific question.

Next, pair students together to discuss their results and findings.

Finally, have each pair share their ideas with the rest of the class, and open the floor for further discussion.

Because the differentiated instruction strategy allows students to process your lesson content individually, in a small group and in a large group, it caters to your classroom’s range of learning and personality types.

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A journal can be a tool for students to reflect on the lessons you’ve taught and activities you’ve run, helping them process new information .

When possible at the end of class, give students a chance to make a journal entry by:

  • Summarizing key points they’ve learned
  • Attempting to answer or make sense of lingering questions
  • Explaining how they can use the lessons in real-life scenarios
  • Illustrating new concepts, which can be especially helpful for data-focused math lessons

As they continue to make entries, they should figure out which ones effectively allow them to process fresh content.

But if you're struggling to see the value of journaling in a subject like math, for example, you can make time specifically for math journaling. While you connect journaling to your own math objectives, students can make cross-curricular connections.

If you want to learn more, check out K-5 Math Teaching Resources for a detailed overview . Angela Watson at The Cornerstone for Teachers also has great math journal resources you can use in your own class!

An extension of journaling, have students reflect on important lessons and set goals for further learning at pre-determined points of the year.

During these points, ask students to write about their favourite topics, as well as the most interesting concepts and information they’ve learned.

They should also identify skills to improve and topics to explore.

Based on the results, you can target lessons to help meet these goals . For example, if the bulk of students discuss a certain aspect of the science curriculum, you can design more activities around it.

Organizing students into literature circles not only encourages students to shape and inform each other’s understanding of readings, but helps auditory and participatory learners retain more information.

This also gives you an opportunity to listen to each circle’s discussion, asking questions and filling in gaps in understanding.

As a bonus, some students may develop leadership skills by running the discussion.

This activity makes written content — which, at times, may only be accessible to individual learners with strong reading retention -- easier to process for more students.

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Free study time will generally benefit students who prefer to learn individually, but can be slightly altered to also help their classmates process your lessons.

This can be done by dividing your class into clearly-sectioned solo and team activities.

Consider the following free study exercises to also meet the preferences of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners:

  • Provide audiobooks, which play material relevant to your lessons
  • Create a station for challenging group games that teach skills involved in the curriculum
  • Maintain a designated quiet space for students to take notes and complete work
  • Allow students to work in groups while taking notes and completing work, away from the quiet space

By running these sorts of activities, free study time will begin to benefit diverse learners — not just students who easily process information through quiet, individual work.

Heterogenous grouping is a common practice, but grouping students based on similar learning style can encourage collaboration through common work and thinking practices.

This is not to be confused with grouping students based on similar level of ability or understanding.

In some cases, doing so conflicts with the “Teach Up” principle , which is discussed below.

Rather, this tactic allows like-minded students to support each other’s learning while giving you to time to spend with each group. You can then offer the optimal kind of instruction to suit each group’s common needs and preferences.

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Instead of focusing on written products, consider evaluating reading comprehension through questions and activities that test different aptitudes.

Although written answers may still appeal to many students, others may thrive and best challenge themselves during artistic or kinesthetic tasks.

For example, allow students to choose between some of the following activities before, during and after an important reading :

  • Participating in more literature circles
  • Delivering a presentation
  • Writing a traditional report
  • Creating visual art to illustrate key events
  • Creating and performing a monologue as a main character or figure

Offering structured options can help students demonstrate their understanding of content as effectively as possible, giving you more insight into their abilities.

Similar to evaluating reading comprehension, give students a list of projects to find one that lets them effectively demonstrate their knowledge.

Include a clear rubric for each type of project, which clearly defines expectations. In fact, some teachers have their students co-create the rubric with them so they have autonomy in the work they'll be completing and being assessed on. Doing so will keep it challenging and help students meet specific criteria.

By both enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

  • Work and learn at their own paces
  • Engage actively with content they must understand
  • Demonstrate their knowledge as effectively as possible

As well as benefiting students, this differentiated instruction strategy will clearly showcase distinct work and learning styles.

As well as offering set options, encourage students to take their projects from concept to completion by pitching you ideas.

A student must show how the product will meet academic standards, and be open to your revisions. If the pitch doesn’t meet your standards, tell the student to refine the idea until it does. If it doesn’t by a predetermined date, assign one of your set options.

You may be pleasantly surprised by some pitches.  

After all, students themselves are the focus of differentiated instruction — they likely have somewhat of a grasp on their learning styles and abilities.

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Even if you’re confident in your overall approach, Carol Ann Tomlinson — one of the most reputable topic thought-leaders — recommends analyzing your differentiated instruction strategies:

Frequently reflect on the match between your classroom and the philosophy of teaching and learning you want to practice. Look for matches and mismatches, and use both to guide you.

Analyze your strategy by reflecting on:

  • Content — Are you using diverse materials and teaching methods in class?
  • Processes — Are you providing solo, small-group and large-group activities that best allow different learners to absorb your content?
  • Products — Are you letting and helping students demonstrate their understanding of content in a variety of ways on tests, projects and assignments?

In doing so, you’ll refine your approach to appropriately accommodate the multiple intelligences of students . It's important to note, however, that recent studies have upended the theory of multiple intelligences. Regardless of where you stand on the multiple intelligences spectrum, the differentiated instruction strategy above remains valuable!

Teaching at a level that’s too easily accessible to each student can harm your differentiated instruction efforts, according to Tomlinson .

Instead, she recommends “teaching up.” This eliminates the pitfall of being stuck on low-level ideas, seldom reaching advanced concepts:

We do much better if we start with what we consider to be high-end curriculum and expectations -- and then differentiate to provide scaffolding, to lift the kids up .

The usual tendency is to start with what we perceive to be grade-level material and then dumb it down for some and raise it up for others. But we don’t usually raise it up very much from that starting point, and dumbing down just sets lower expectations for some kids.

Keeping this concept in mind should focus your differentiated teaching strategy, helping you bring each student up to “high-end curriculum and expectations.”

It has also grown particularly popular in the 2020s as educators have focused more on accelerated learning by "teaching up", as opposed to filling learning gaps.

As Elizabeth S. LeBlanc, Co-Founder of the Institute for Teaching and Learning, writes for EdSurge : "Accelerated learning approaches give a lower priority to repetition or 'skill-and-drill' uses of instructional technology. In other words, it’s not about memorizing everything you should have learned, it’s about moving you forward so you pick things up along the way. "

Differentiated Math Instruction Strategies and Examples

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Some EdTech tools — such as certain educational math video games — can deliver differentiated content, while providing unique ways to process it.

For example, Prodigy adjusts questions to tackle student trouble spots and offers math problems that use words, charts and pictures, as well as numbers.

To the benefit of teachers, the game is free and curriculum-aligned for grades 1 to 8. You can adjust the focus of questions to supplement lessons and homework, running reports to examine each student’s progress.

Join over 90 million students and teachers using Prodigy's differentiating power today. 👇

Clearly linking math to personal interests and real-world examples can help some learners understand key concepts.

Working with 41 grade 7 students throughout an academic year, a 2015 study published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education used contextual learning strategies to teach integers and increase test scores by more than 44%.

Striving for similar benefits may be ambitious, but you can start by surveying students. Ask about their interests and how they use math outside of school.

Using your findings, you should find that contextualization helps some students grasp new or unfamiliar math concepts.

There are many math-related games and activities to find inspiration to implement this tactic.

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Help students practice different math skills by playing a game that’s a take on tic-tac-toe.

Prepare by dividing a sheet into squares — three vertical by three horizontal. Don’t leave them blank. Instead, fill the boxes with questions that test different abilities.

For example:

  • “Complete question X in page Y of your textbook”
  • “Draw a picture to show how to add fraction X and fraction Y”
  • “Describe a real-life situation in which you would use cross-multiplication, providing an example and solution”

You can hand out sheets to students for solo practice, or divide them into pairs and encourage friendly competition . The first one to link three Xs or Os — by correctly completing questions —  wins. 

So, depending on your preferences, this game will challenge diverse learners through either individual or small-group practice.

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Provide differentiated math learning opportunities for your students by setting up unique learning stations across your classrooms, but forgoing mandatory rotations.

The idea comes from a grade 9 teacher in Ontario, who recommends creating three stations to solve similar mathematical problems using either:

  • Data — Provide spreadsheets, requiring students to manipulate data through trial and error
  • People — Group students into pairs or triads to tackle a range of problems together, supporting each other’s learning
  • Things — Offer a hands-on option by giving each student objects to use when solving questions

Only allow students to switch stations if they feel the need. If they do, consult them about their decision. In each case, you and the student will likely learn more about his or her learning style.

Supplemented by your circulation between stations to address gaps in prior knowledge, this activity exposes students to exercises that appeal to diverse abilities.

Downloadable List of Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples

Click here to download and print a simplified list of the 20 differentiated instruction strategies and examples to keep at your desk.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies Infographic

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Here’s an infographic with 16 ideas from this article, provided by  Educational Technology and Mobile Learning  — an online resource for teaching tools and ideas.

Wrapping Up

With help from the downloadable list, use these differentiated instruction strategies and examples to suit the diverse needs and learning styles of your students.

As well as adding variety to your content, these methods will help students process your lessons and demonstrate their understanding of them.

The strategies should prove to be increasingly useful as you identify the distinct learning styles in — and learn to manage — your classroom .

Interested in other teaching strategies to deploy in your classroom?

Differentiated instruction strategies overlap in important ways with a number of other pedagogical approaches. Consider reviewing these supplementary strategies to find more ideas, combine different elements of each strategy, and enrich your pedagogical toolkit!

  • Active learning strategies   put your students at the center of the learning process, enriching the classroom experience and boosting engagement.
  • As opposed to traditional learning activities,  experiential learning activities  build knowledge and skills through direct experience.
  • Project-based learning   uses an open-ended approach in which students work alone or collectively to produce an engaging, intricate curriculum-related questions or challenges.
  • Inquiry-based learning   is subdivided into four categories, all of which promote the importance of your students' development of questions, ideas and analyses.
  • Adaptive learning  focuses on changing — or "adapting" — learning content for students on an individual basis, particularly with the help of technology.

👉 Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy — a game-based learning platform that delivers differentiated instruction, automatically adjusting questions to accommodate player trouble spots and learning speeds. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it’s used by more than 90 million students and teachers.

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Differentiated Learning: Why "One Size Fits All" Doesn't Work In Education

Sarah Mead

When you have a school-aged child, of course you want your student to have all the tools he or she needs for academic success. Unfortunately the "one size fits all" teaching approach is flawed because it assumes all students learn in the same ways.

Curriculums should be differentiated to suit the individual needs of each unique student. Only then can students receive the best possible education and be prepared for future success.

Why Does Differentiated Learning Matter?

In many schools it is common for a student's day to largely consist of sitting at a desk, listening to a teacher lecture, and taking notes in preparation for an exam or quiz. However, when we take into consideration that not all students learn effectively with this method, it becomes clear that what we really need in more classrooms across the United States is student centered or differentiated learning . 

Research finds that students immersed in student centered classrooms are more engaged and achieve more than students in traditional classrooms. In other words, a differentiated learning approach is more likely to reach students than the traditional one-size-fits-all lecture.

Understanding Common Learning Styles

When we mention that all students have unique learning styles, what exactly do we mean? Educators have agreed upon the existence of seven primary learning styles that includes most students. Some may fall into more than one. These common learning styles include:

  • Aural - prefer using sound and music to learn
  • Verbal - learn best through speech and writing
  • Physical - do best using a "hands-on" approach
  • Visual - prefer learning using pictures and images
  • Logical - learn best through reasoning (tend to do well in math)
  • Solitary - do best through self-paced studying
  • Social - like to learn in groups with others

Of those seven learning styles, only verbal learners are well-served by the traditional style of education where the teacher stands at the front of the classroom and explains concepts to students. This leaves out the overwhelming majority of learners who do best with hands-on learning, group work, or learning through images and sound. 

Picture of students using differentiated learning techniques

How does differentiated learning better serve students?

Differentiated learning refers to a style of teaching that allows students to work more independently in the classroom and construct lessons based on their own learning styles. In other words, this style of teaching gives students the power to tailor their learning experiences in a way that best suits their unique needs.

Let’s think about elementary school math, for example. Explaining how simple addition works or even demonstrating it on the whiteboard may only resonate with certain students. In reality, social learners may learn best by working in groups that can solve problems together. A set of blocks could help physical learners visualize a mathematical concept. And solitary learners could learn best by taking practice worksheets into a quiet corner.

Creating a Differentiated Learning Environment

Many schools default to the traditional one-size-fits-all educational approach because of resources. Creating a lesson plan tailored to every single learning style is not as simple as writing a lecture or creating a PowerPoint.

When there’s only one teacher in each classroom, it’s challenging to make sure each student gets the attention they need. The teacher can’t help struggling students or challenge thriving ones because they constantly have to make sure the entire class is occupied.

One of the ways we’ve addressed this at Whitby is with multiple teachers in the Lower School classrooms. Our teachers also make sure to allocate time periods to independent work so students can find a comfortable place in the room to work and choose how they approach a project based on their own strengths. Teachers are then able to float around to help as each student works at their own pace.

Creating Education for Students

By creating an environment that allows students to take control of their own learning, we also give them the tools and support they need to be successful in academia, and in life. We're proud to offer a differentiated learning approach for all of our students at Whitby. Our highly trained and experienced educators know how to foster an engaging learning environment that encourages the various learning styles rather than expecting everyone to fit into an ideal "mold" of how students should learn.

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What Research Says About . . . / Differentiated Learning

What we know, what you can do, educators take note.

Researchers at the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum define differentiated instruction asa process to approach teaching and learning for students of differing abilities in the same class. The intent is to maximize each student's growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is . . . rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum. (Hall, 2002)
  • Focus on the essential ideas and skills of the content area, eliminating ancillary tasks and activities.
  • Respond to individual student differences (such as learning style, prior knowledge, interests, and level of engagement).
  • Group students flexibly by shared interest, topic, or ability.
  • Integrate ongoing and meaningful assessments with instruction.
  • Continually assess; reflect; and adjust content, process, and product to meet student needs.

Allan, S. D., &amp; Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Leadership for differentiating schools and classrooms . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Anderson, K. M., (2007). Differentiating instruction to include all students. Preventing School Failure, 51 (3), 49–54.

Baumgartner, T., Lipowski, M. B., &amp; Rush, C. (2003). Increasing reading achievement of primary and middle school students through differentiated instruction (Master's research). Available from Education Resources Information Center (ERIC No. ED479203).

Ellis, E. S., &amp; Worthington, L. A. (1994). Research synthesis on effective teaching principles and the design of quality tools for educators (Technical Report No. 5). Eugene: University of Oregon, National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators.

Hall, T. (2002). Differentiated instruction [Online]. Wakefield, MA: CAST. Available: www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstruc.html

Lawrence-Brown, D. (2004). Differentiated instruction: Inclusive strategies for standards-based learning that benefit the whole class. American Secondary Education 32 (3), 34.

McQuarrie, L., McRae, P., &amp; Stack-Cutler, H. (2008). Differentiated instruction provincial research review . Edmonton: Alberta Initiative for School Improvement.

Rock, M., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., &amp; Gable, R. A. (2008). REACH: A framework for differentiating classroom instruction. Preventing School Failure, 52 (2), 31–47.

Tieso, C. (2005). The effects of grouping practices and curricular adjustments on achievement. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29 (1), 60–89.

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). Leadership for differentiated classrooms. The School Administrator, 56 (9), 6–11.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades. ERIC Digest . Available: www.ericdigests.org/2001-2/elementary.html

Tomlinson, C., &amp; Kalbfleisch, M. L. (1998). Teach me, teach my brain: A call for differentiated classrooms. Educational Leadership, 56 (3), 52–55.

Tomlinson, C. A., &amp; Strickland, C. A. (2005). Differentiation in practice: A resource guide for differentiating curriculum, grades 9–12 . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Vaughn, S., Bos, C., &amp; Schumm, J. (2000). Teaching exceptional, diverse, and at-risk students in the general education classroom (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Vygotsky, L. S., (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Differentiated Learning: The 21st Century Pedagogical Strategy Teachers Should Adopt

DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

Many parents and teachers fall into the temptation to compare a child’s academic performance or experience with another child without understanding how children differ in their emotional, physical, and psychological development.

We all learn in different ways, and our abilities and interests also vary. Therefore, if teachers do not realize that each student in the classroom has their own unique learning style, they may find it difficult to promote the maximum growth of the learner.

In addition, children develop executive functioning skills differently, so their ability to master different subjects varies. Instead, teachers should be able to get to know each student individually and adopt strategies that work for them.

That’s why a thorough understanding of differentiated learning is critical for every teacher who wants to maximize students’ potential in their classrooms.

If you want to learn more about differentiated learning, you’ve come to the right place. Come with me to explore this concept in detail.

What Is Differentiated Learning?

Differentiated learning is an instructional technique in which teachers employ a variety of teaching methods to individually meet the needs of each student according to their needs.

These needs may be existing knowledge, learning style, interest, and understanding of the subject. 

Basically, differentiated learning allows teachers to meet each student at a level comparable to their knowledge level and prepare for their learning preferences.

Moreso, the purpose of differentiated learning is to create an equal learning advantage for all students and to bridge the gap between the seemingly high performers and low performers in the classroom.

The learning process is such that students are neither overly challenged nor challenged.

Before introducing a course to a class, it is important to note that some students may have a level of knowledge on the subject, while others may have a general understanding of the subject. Conversely, some students may be completely new to the topic.

Also, some students understand better and faster when listening to teachers or through audiobooks. 

On the other hand, some people learn effectively while actively participating in the learning process. Some students will have to spend time reading on their own to gain complete knowledge.

We also have children who enjoy working and collaborating in small groups, while some children prefer to learn on their own. Differentiation of content and approach ensures that everything is tailored to the different needs of the participants.

Four factors come into play to enhance differentiated learning, including content, process, product, and learning environment, which we will study as we go.

Finally, in differentiated learning, the learning objectives are the same for the entire class, however, instructional materials, assessments, and delivery methods vary based on the needs of each student.

Methods Of Differentiated Learning

As mentioned earlier, teachers can differentiate learning in four ways. These include:

The content is the course itself. This can be differentiated in a number of ways. First, students have different levels of mastery or knowledge of a subject. 

Some students may have no prior knowledge of the subject, some students may have partial knowledge, and some students may have mastered the knowledge of the subject.

In addition, there are different types of learners. There are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. 

Visual learners easily acquire knowledge through visual representations of topics. On the other hand, auditory learners understand topics better when listening to audiobooks or teachers. 

Kinesthetic learners, on the other hand, understand better by physically participating in the learning process.

Incorporating this knowledge into teaching will help teachers develop a variety of content and instructional materials that can individually reach each student.

Process talks about ways to provide instruction to students. It is important to pre-assess each student to understand the teaching style that is right for them. 

Additionally, ongoing assessment over the course of the course will help teachers understand whether each student is learning to the best of their ability.

In order to determine the appropriate teaching process or curriculum for each child, teachers must understand students’ interests, abilities, and knowledge levels.

Some students learn best through audio-based instruction or listening to the teacher. 

For some people, listening to the teacher is not enough, they have to read it over and over again. And some people learn best by manipulating content-related objects.

Additionally, some students prefer to work alone, while others prefer collaborative and group-based learning. Understanding students’ needs through pre-assessment can help teachers create differentiated learning processes that help students learn effectively.

Finally, a viable process to employ is scaffolding in which teachers demonstrate how to solve a problem, and then step back for students to replicate these processes while offering support as they progress.

3. Products

This aspect of differentiated learning involves the method by which teachers access each student’s level of mastery of the curriculum. Teachers can do this by conducting tests, asking students to write a report on a practical topic based on the course, etc.

However, the best assessment method is one that matches each student’s level of intellectual interest and preferred learning mode.

For example, a good way to test kinesthetic learners is through practical assessments, whereas auditory learners will do well through verbal assessments.

Also, students who are new to a topic may not be able to answer questions as proficiently as those who have a better understanding of the topic.

Therefore, the product differentiation approach provides students with a range of options to individually demonstrate their level of understanding.

4. Learning Environment

In general, students learn in an environment that either improves learning or undermines their learning.

Creating a quiet and peaceful environment is conducive to learning, while a noisy environment can reduce students’ comprehension.

Additionally, when considering contextual factors to enhance differentiated learning, it is critical to ensure that there are flexible classroom layouts to support group work and collaboration, as well as to encourage individuals who prefer to work alone.

Finally, environmental factors such as lighting, classroom atmosphere, class size, board settings, etc. all contribute to the level of student performance.

Advantages Of Differentiated Learning

Below is a list of the notable benefits of differentiated learning for students:

1. Equal Growth For All Students

Differentiated learning was adopted to support every student in their learning journey. It is the way to reach and impact every child across all levels.

2. Better Academic Performance

Differentiated learning improves the general academic performance of students. By catering to them individually, teachers can spike students’ interest in learning and gear them toward realizing their full potential.

3. Fun and Immersive Learning

When teachers adopt a series of instructional strategies that align with students of any type, they would find learning easy and fun.

By encouraging group-based learning, using a game-like approach, and videos, and allowing students to manipulate objects related to the content, each student can get really engrossed in learning.

4. Personalized Learning

Differentiated learning is student-centric. Teachers develop their lessons based on students’ knowledge levels, learning preferences, and interests.

The learning environment is such that supports learners who prefer to read in secluded and quiet places as well as those who love to discuss in groups.

More so, the content and instructional materials include audio format, videos, and practicals in a bid to ensure personalized learning for every student.

Disadvantages Of Differentiated Learning

The benefits of differentiated learning are clear, but there are some challenges associated with it, including:

1. Time factor

Although differentiated learning is a fun way to teach, teachers barely have the luxury of time to focus on each student individually.

This is because the school allocates time for each subject. And there may not be enough time to pre-assess students’ knowledge levels or group them according to their knowledge and learning preferences, etc.

2. High pressure

Differentiated learning involves many processes, from pre-assessment to continuous assessment, to content planning, to the teaching process, etc. This can be overwhelming for teachers.

Additionally, teachers must cater to students individually and in groups, which may not be possible for teachers with large numbers of students in their classes.

3. High cost

To facilitate differentiated learning, schools must have access to a range of resources and instructional materials to support the learning of each student.

Additionally, they must provide materials for each topic. Clearly, this will require ongoing financial support that many schools may not be able to meet.

Examples Of Differentiated Learning

Let’s explore the differentiated pedagogical strategies to apply in a variety of subjects:

1. Differentiated learning strategies for math

Differentiated instruction for math is really effective as it helps to b hold students’ confidence, stamina, and skills. Some strategies include:

  • The use of jelly tots and toothpicks to learn about 3D shapes
  • Playing mental arithmetic games using dartboards
  • Use real-world scenarios to explain topics
  • Explain maths with the use of visuals
  • Give students options of maneuvering strategies to solve a math problem to arrive at the answer

2. Differentiated instruction strategies for reading

  • Use of whiteboard to help pupils recognize and pronounce words in prep classes
  • Students could form a team and choose a book to read and discuss
  • Use a tiered assignment approach by allowing some students to write a report on the read while some can do a visual story presentation of what they learned

3. Differentiated learning strategies for writing

  • Give students manuscripts for letter writing
  • Provide graphical scenarios and ask students to explain each phase of the event through writing
  • Allow students to choose a topic of interest to write on

How To Enhance Differentiated Learning

1. conduct pre-assessments and ongoing assessments.

Both pre-assessment and ongoing assessment are important for the effectiveness of differentiated learning. 

Pre-assessment helps teachers determine students’ knowledge levels and avoid dwelling on what they already know or using methods that may not work.

Because pre-assessments help gathers information about students’ strengths, weaknesses, and areas of need, it is best done before lesson plans are written so that course descriptions can be tailored to the needs of students.

On the other hand, continuous or ongoing assessment helps teachers to understand the progress of students after each stage of learning. 

By continually testing students in different ways, teachers can learn more about students’ interests, preferred learning styles, and willingness to learn, and continue to improve strategies to help them learn better.

2. Hire teaching assistants

As mentioned earlier, teachers do not have enough time alone to meet the needs of all students. So one of the ways schools can foster differentiated learning is to hire assistant instructional administrators whose job it is to keep low-ability students up to speed.

Additionally, assistant teachers can take on jobs that cater to small groups of learners, while teachers instruct other individual learners. This way, they can maximize their time and energy and ensure that every child is touched.

3. Encourage parents to participate in their child’s learning process

Parents are often eager to see their children grow and progress academically. Also, parents have a deeper understanding of their child’s feelings, interests, and changes over time. 

Therefore, sharing their perspectives with teachers can go a long way in helping teachers understand these children so they can develop the right strategies to improve their performance.

Is differentiated learning effective?

Yes. It is a very effective strategy for improving the learning process and performance of students.

Is differentiated learning the same as differentiated instruction?

Yes. They both mean the same thing.

What are examples of differentiated learning?

Examples of differentiated learning include using a tiered assignment approach where a group of students writes a report on what they read while some give a visual story highlight of what they understand from a passage.

Because every child is unique and special, differentiated learning is a requirement for daily classroom practice. And many teachers are inculcating it as a strategy to meet the needs of every student in their class.

Therefore, it is best that you adopt differentiated learning in your class to help to learn fun and immersive for students as well as improve their academic performance.

Also, teachers can allow students to manipulate their way around a mathematical problem to solve it. They can equally allow students to pick a topic of interest to write on to help them improve their writing skills.

Finally, it would be best if you check the post on what is Montessori learning , to learn about other ways of helping students learn better.

I hope you got value. Thanks for reading.

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Differentiated Learning Quotes & Sayings

differentiated learning quotes

IMAGES

  1. Carol Ann Tomlinson Quote: “Differentiation is simply a teacher

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  2. 36 Carol Ann Tomlinson Differentiated Instruction Quotes

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  3. Carol Ann Tomlinson Quote: “Differentiation is simply a teacher

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  4. Carol Ann Tomlinson Quote: “Differentiation is classroom practice that

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  5. Quotes about Differentiated (57 quotes)

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VIDEO

  1. DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING

  2. DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

  3. Collaboration, individualism & differentiated learning

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  5. life learning quotes By Dr Kumar Vishwas 🌹🌹👏

  6. Life learning quotes ✨#motivation #shorts #viral #understanding about life & truth of life✌️

COMMENTS

  1. 10 Inspiring Quotations To Help You Differentiate Instruction

    Teachers in the most exciting and effective differentiated classrooms don 't have all the answers. What they do have is optimism and determination. It is a human birthright to be a learner. There is little we do that is more important. Like students, teachers grow best when they are moderately challenged. Waiting until conditions are ideal or ...

  2. TOP 25 QUOTES BY CAROL ANN TOMLINSON

    Carol Ann Tomlinson Teacher, Teaching, Doe Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001). "How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, 2nd Edition", p.29, ASCD 160 Copy quote Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction. Carol Ann Tomlinson Mean, Assessment, Today 119 Copy quote

  3. 153 Differentiated Learning Quotes

    Three things differentiate living from the soul versus living from ego only. They are: the ability to sense and learn new ways, the tenacity to ride a rough road, and the patience to deepen love over time. The ego, however, has a penchant and proclivity to avoid learning. Patience is not the ego's strong suit.

  4. Faculty Conversation: Carol Tomlinson on Differentiation

    Tomlinson: The model of differentiation is very multifaceted, but it can be boiled down to three student needs which call for differentiating instruction: student readiness, student interest, and student learning profile.

  5. Quotes from The Differentiated Classroom

    Quotes from The Differentiated Classroom — Yager Stuff - Learn and Teach English Here are some quotes from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners 2nd Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson. Here are some quotes from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners 2nd Edition by Carol Ann Tomlinson. 0

  6. Differentiated Instruction: A Primer

    Differentiated Instruction: A Primer. By Sarah D. Sparks — January 28, 2015 10 min read. In this 2014 photo, 6th graders Willyum Oliver and Michael James (from left) discuss a math performance ...

  7. Arts Integration and Differentiated Instruction

    " (1) understand rather than memorize, (2) retain ideas and facts longer because they are more meaningful, (3) make connections between subjects and facets of a single subject, (4) relate ideas to their own lives, (5) build networks of meaning for effectively dealing with future knowledge"13 Arts integration is an example of concept-based teaching.

  8. Differentiated Instruction: Examples & Classroom Strategies

    According to Tomlinson, teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways: 1) content, 2) process, 3) product, and 4) learning environment. 1. Content. As you already know, fundamental lesson content should cover the standards of learning set by the school district or state educational standards.

  9. Differentiated Instruction Allows Students to Succeed

    Designed differentiation is the deliberate act of modifying instruction or an assignment in order to customize the effect to match the particular developmental level and skills of a student or group of students. The ideal is to provide equivalent learning activities that cater to the students' strengths but bring all of the students to the same ...

  10. 16 differentiated instruction tips

    Differentiated instruction tips. 1) Present content in different ways. E.g. using graphic organisers, Venn diagrams, timelines or flowcharts. 3) Simplify the text to eliminate any unnecessary vocabulary and use simpler language. There are online tools such as online readability tests or English vocabulary profile that will help you check the ...

  11. Visible Learning for Teachers Quotes by John Hattie

    "if you want to increase student academic achievement, give each student a friend." ― John A.C. Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning 4 likes Like

  12. What Is Differentiated Instruction and Why Is It Important?

    Differentiated instruction allows us to give students the support they need instead of lumping them together in one big group. Smaller groups make it easier to see who has mastered the lesson goals and has acquired the skills to move on. Larger class sizes make it more difficult to zero in on individual student needs.

  13. CAROL ANN TOMLINSON quotes and sayings

    "Differentiation is classroom practice that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning." -- Carol Ann Tomlinson #Teacher Quotes #Kids Quotes #Reality Quotes "When challenge and skills are in balance the activity is its own reward"

  14. 15 Shareable Learning Design and Development Quotes

    "Boring and effective are mutually exclusive attributes in learning." — Michael Allen, Chairman & CEO, Allen Interactions (Tweet this) "The brain remembers the emotional component of an experience better than any other aspect." — John Medina, Author, Brain Rules (Tweet this)

  15. Differentiated Instruction

    Teaching differently to different students Differentiated Instruction (DI) is fundamentally the attempt to teach differently to different students, rather than maintain a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction.

  16. Carol Ann Tomlinson Quotes (Author of The Differentiated Classroom)

    ― Carol A. Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners 0 likes Like "Dewey (1938) reminds us that if school isn't for today, it will often turn out to be for nothing." ― Carol Ann Tomlinson, How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms 0 likes Like

  17. Succeeding With Differentiation

    Why? The answer to this question is multifaceted. The traditional A-F grading system doesn't lend itself easily to differentiation, and tracking students undermines it.

  18. What is differentiated instruction?

    By Geri Coleman Tucker Expert reviewed by Kylah Torre At a glance Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach that tailors instruction to students' different learning needs. It lets students show what they know in different ways. It doesn't replace the goals in a child's IEP or 504 plan.

  19. 20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples

    👉 Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy — a game-based learning platform that delivers differentiated instruction, automatically adjusting questions to accommodate player trouble spots and learning speeds. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it's used by more than 90 million students and teachers.

  20. Differentiated Learning: Why "One Size Fits All" Doesn't Work In ...

    Many schools default to the traditional one-size-fits-all educational approach because of resources. Creating a lesson plan tailored to every single learning style is not as simple as writing a lecture or creating a PowerPoint. When there's only one teacher in each classroom, it's challenging to make sure each student gets the attention ...

  21. What Research Says About . . . / Differentiated Learning

    Lawrence-Brown (2004) confirms that differentiated instruction can enable students with a wide range of abilities—from gifted students to those with mild or even severe disabilities—to receive an appropriate education in inclusive classrooms. Building on Vaughn, Bos, and Schumm's (2000) basic, three-level planning pyramid and Tomlinson and ...

  22. Differentiated Learning: The 21st Century Pedagogical ...

    Advantages Of Differentiated Learning. Below is a list of the notable benefits of differentiated learning for students: 1. Equal Growth For All Students. Differentiated learning was adopted to support every student in their learning journey. It is the way to reach and impact every child across all levels. 2.

  23. Differentiated Learning Quotes, Quotations & Sayings 2024

    Jean Piaget 1 Likes Life is all about learning! Learning about the little things! Learning from all your mistakes! Learning about those that you thought would have your back but turned out they didn't!