West Virginia Achieves Professional Development Series Volume XIV Differentiated Instruction.

West Virginia Achieves Professional Development

Series

Volume XIVVolume XIV

Differentiated Instruction

West Virginia Department of Education Mission

The West Virginia Department of Education, in conjunction with the Regional Education Service Agencies and the Office of Performance Audits, will create systemic conditions, processes and structures within the West Virginia public school system that result in (1) all students achieving mastery and beyond and (2) closing the achievement gap among sub-groups of the student population.

Robert HutchinsThe Conflict in Education in a Democratic Society

“Perhaps the greatest idea that America has given the world is education for all. The world is entitled to know whether this idea means that everybody can be educated or simply that everyone must go to school.”

What We Know…

An emerging body of research identifies characteristics of high performing school systems.

These school systems have made significant progress in bringing all students to mastery and in closing the achievement gap.

These systems share characteristics described in The West Virginia Framework for High Performing Schools.

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CULTURE OF COMMON BELIEFS & VALUES

Dedicated to “Learning for ALL…Whatever It Takes”

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IMPROVEMENT PROCESS

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West Virginia Department of Education

Seeking Equity & Excellence:Differentiated Instruction


Objectives

• Establish a common definition of differentiated instruction

• Review the evidence and research for differentiated instruction

• Develop an understanding of the three key curricular elements of differentiated instruction

• Understand how district leadership prepares and supports for the implementation of differentiated instruction


DefiningDifferentiated Instruction


When a teacher tries to teach something to the entire class at the same time, “chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t. So two-thirds of the children are wasting their time.”

- Lilian Katz


When a teacher tries to teach something to the entire class at the same time, “chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t. So two-thirds of the children are wasting their time.” - Lilian Katz

• As a student, I was in the 1/3 who…• As a teacher, I was in the 1/3 who...• As a parent, my child is in the 1/3

who…

Reflect on this quote by completing these phrases:

Activity One


What is Differentiated Instruction?

Traditional ClassroomDifferentiated

Classroom1. Assessment at the end of

unit of study1. Assessment is ongoing,

diagnostics and influences instruction

2. Dominance of whole class instruction

2. Variety of instructional strategies used within a classroom

3. Adopted textbooks are the main instructional resource

3. Multiple types of materials are utilized as resources

4. The teacher is the main problem solver

4. Students are actually engaged in solving problems

5. Quantitative focus to assignments

5. Qualitative focus to assignments(Based on C Tomlinson, 2000)


Differentiated instruction is a philosophy of teaching that– Creates a personalized and responsive

classroom environment– Maximizes student growth and

individual success while honoring the unique qualities of each student

– Offers a variety of learning options within a student centered classroom

– Blends whole group, small group, and individualized instruction utilizing a standards-based curriculum

What is Differentiated Instruction?


Key Principles of Differentiation

• Flexibility• Ongoing assessment• Variety of learning opportunities

and working arrangements• Respectful activities• Student/teacher collaboration

for learning


Evidence forDifferentiated Instruction


What’s the Evidence for Differentiation?

There are three underlying areas.– Beliefs about teaching and learning

– Educational theories and research that support differentiation

– Research examining differentiation as a whole model


Differentiation is a Response to Beliefs

Examples– Schools help us understand and respect

commonalities and differences in individuals

– Intelligence is dynamic, not static– Students are the center of the learning process– All learners require engaging schoolwork


Differentiation is a Response to Beliefs

– Competition against oneself results in growth and progress

– Schools maximize the capacity of each learner

– Excellent differentiated classrooms are excellent first, and differentiated second


Research Support for Differentiation

• Research is exhaustive and comes from a variety of sources

• However, the model’s emphasis on differentiation by readiness, interest and learning profile provides the format for presentation of research findings


Sample Research Related to Readiness

Differentiation• 80% success rate – optimum for

growth (Berliner, 1984, 1988; McGreal, 1985)

• Higher performance by students in multiage classrooms (Miller, 1990)

• Effective teachers craft challenges commensurate with skill levels

(Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993)


Sample Research Related to Interest Differentiation

• Fostering individual interest - enhances motivation, achievement and productivity (Amabile, 1983; Torrance, 1995)

• Student interest in a task – key to talent development (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993)

• Positive influence on learning exists, both short and long term, when students are interested in what they study (Herbert, 1993; Renninger, 1990)


Sample Research Related to Learning Profile Differentiation

• Learning-style accommodation – significant gains for students from all cultural groups (Sullivan, 1993, Delpit, 1995)

• Students matched to instruction suited to their learning patterns – improved student achievement (Sternberg, 1997, 1998)

• Multiple-intelligence focus in instruction – increased test scores (Campbell & Campbell, 1999)


Looking at Differentiation as a Whole Model

How effective are classrooms that bring together what we know about addressing readiness, interest, and learning profile into a coherent and proactively planned whole?


Back to the Beginning

• If the question is whether we have research evidence to support the effort to create more academically responsive classrooms, the answer is: yes, we do.

• Do we need more research? Of course!


In the Final Analysis

• We differentiate instruction because we cannot do otherwise.

• We know too much about student variance to pretend that it does not exist or that it is unimportant.

• We know too much about the art of teaching to assume it can happen effectively in template fashion.


Differentiating Key Curricular ElementsIn Response to Student’s Needs


Differentiation of Instructionis a teachers response to learner’s needs

Guided by general principals of differentiation, such as

respectful tasks

Flexible grouping

Ongoing assessment & adjustment

Content Process Product

Readiness Interests Learning Profile

According to student’s

Differentiated instruction centers around three key curricular elements – content, process, and product.

(Based on C Tomlinson, 2000)


Content

The differentiation of content is what the teacher plans for students to learn and how the student gains access to the desired knowledge, understanding, and skills.


Process

The differentiation of process or activity involves using an essential skill for understanding an idea and is clearly focused on a learning goal. Further, process gives students options of activities in order to achieve individual success.


Products

The differentiation of products refers to items used to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and/or ability to apply or extend skills.


Three Ways to Differentiate Student Characteristics

Readiness – teacher constructs tasks and activity choices at different levels of difficulty.

Interests – teacher aligns learning concepts with student interests to increase learning.

Learning Profile – teacher addresses student learning, talents, and intelligence

in order to individualize and maximize learning.


Individually or in small groups, develop a series of true or false statements based on the information covered. Once statements are written, participants exchange lists and attempt to identify which statements are true or false.

Activity Two


Leadership for Change toward Differentiated Instruction


Initiating Differentiated Instruction:

Setting the Stage• Articulate a vision• Establish common definition and terms• Build understanding and

support among stakeholders• Present differentiation as

grounded in research, a “hallmark of teacher quality” and best practice

• Link other district initiatives to differentiated practices


Differentiation: An Umbrella for District

Initiatives

(Based on C Tomlinson, 2000)


• Attend to competing mandates• Plan for leadership and support• Allocate financial resources• Prepare to assess progress• Plan for the long haul

Initiating Differentiated Instruction:

Setting the Stage


Strategies for Implementing

Differentiated Instruction• Focusing on Personnel

– Hiring– Specialists– Social Workers, Counselors– Retirees, Volunteers

• Support– Opportunities for teachers to

observe, exchange– Mini-grants– Teacher recognition


• Sharing and dissemination of information– Core groups– Shared reflective journals– Mailbox staff development– Teacher “freebies” – effective materials

• Preparing structural Strategies– Grouping, and“looping” – Learning centers to support range of

learners

Strategies for Implementing

Differentiated Instruction


Supporting Differentiation through Staff Development

“Most schools and teachers cannot produce the kind of learning demanded by the new reforms- not because they do not want to, but because

they do not know how…”

(Darling-Hammond, 1997)


Planning Professional Development

• Build a common vocabulary

• Consider teacher readiness

• Offer options that focus on particular needs– Grade levels– Content areas

• Include school administrators


• Emphasize high quality curriculum and instruction

• Plan to ensure transfer to classroom practice

• Align with district goals• Recognize teacher efforts

Planning Professional Development


“Differentiating opportunities for staff to learn and build skills is a must”

• Consider teachers’ proficiency levels and build evolution towards differentiation– Awareness– Developmental– Transfer– Institutionalization

(School Level Professional Development Guide, WVDE, 2003-

2004)


Activity ThreeDifferentiating Professional

Development

• Read and review the handouts.

• In small groups discuss how the case study assignments differ with regard to teacher readiness level.


Systemic GrowthTowards Differentiated

Instruction• Keys to continued growth

– Hiring school personnel who have expertise in or an openness to differentiation as a teaching philosophy

– Providing curriculum that supports differentiation

– Supporting teachers and holding them accountable for growth in differentiating instruction

– Examining outcomes


Activity FourReflecting on Differentiation

• Individually answer the questions on the reflections worksheet.

• Share responses in groups of four to five.

• Report out any commonalities.


In the Final Analysis

• We differentiate instruction because we cannot do otherwise.

• We know too much about student variance to pretend that it does not exist or that it is unimportant.

• We know too much about the art of teaching to assume it can happen effectively in template fashion.

“Learning for all … whatever it takes”

West Virginia Achieves Professional Development Series Volume XIV Differentiated Instruction.

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