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?
鈥淒ifferentiated instruction鈥濃�攖he process of identifying students鈥� individual learning strengths, needs, and interests and adapting lessons to match them鈥攈as 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.
The process of identifying students鈥� 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 鈥渄ifferentiate鈥� instruction. However, in its , the U.S. Department of Education lays out a framework that places differentiated teaching under the larger umbrella of 鈥減ersonalized learning,鈥� instruction tailored to students鈥� individual learning needs, preferences, and interests. This framework assumes that all students in a heterogeneous classroom will have the same learning goals, but:
- 鈥泪苍诲颈惫颈诲耻补濒颈锄补迟颈辞苍鈥� 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鈥檚 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.
- 鈥凄颈蹿蹿别谤别苍迟颈补迟颈辞苍鈥� tailors instruction by presentation. A teacher may vary the method and assignments covering the material to adjust to students鈥� 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 , found that the 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of teachers never moved beyond traditional direct lectures and seat work for students.
鈥淩esults suggest that differentiation of instruction and assessment are complex endeavors requiring extended time and concentrated effort to master,鈥� the authors conclude. 鈥淎dd 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.鈥�
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 鈥渢racking,鈥� 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 鈥淚ndividually Guided Education, 鈥� a management plan for pacing children through a standardized, objective-based curriculum鈥� 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 , 2nd Edition (ASCD, 2014) and (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鈥檚 interests and needs.
Differentiated Instruction Strategies
In theory鈥攖hough critics allege not in practice鈥攄ifferentiation does not involve creating separate lesson plans for individual students for a given unit.
In theory鈥攖hough critics allege not in practice鈥攄ifferentiation 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.
During the 1990s, teachers were also encouraged to present material differently according to a student鈥檚 鈥渓earning style鈥濃�攆or 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 can be categorized as learning best through a single type of presentation.
Rick Wormeli, an education consultant and the author of Fair Isn鈥檛 Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, instead suggests in a 2011 essay in the journal Middle Ground : 鈥淎 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.鈥�
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 鈥渆arly warning systems鈥� and student 鈥渄ashboards鈥� 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.
Advocates of hybrid education models, such as the 鈥渇lipped classroom鈥�鈥攊n which students watch lectures and read material at home and perform practice that would normally be homework during class time鈥攈ave 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 鈥渕any aspects of differentiation of instruction and assessment (e.g., assigning different work to different students, promoting greater student independence in the classroom) challenged teachers鈥� 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.鈥�
In the 2009 book, , 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. 鈥淓very significant endeavor seems too hard if we look only at the expert鈥檚 product. ... The success of all these 鈥榮easoned鈥� people stemmed largely from three factors: They started down a path. They wanted to do better. They kept working toward their goal.鈥�
Including students of disparate abilities and interests also requires the teacher to rethink expectations for all students: 鈥淚f a teacher uses flexible grouping lesson by lesson and does not assume a student has prior knowledge because he is a 鈥榟igher鈥� student but really assesses and groups, based on need sometimes and other times by interest, the students will get what they need,鈥� 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.
Critiques
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 鈥渢o 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.鈥� He adds: 鈥淥ne reason for this lack of evidence may simply be that no large-scale, scientific study of differentiated instruction has been conducted.鈥� 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鈥� 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 鈥渟eemed to complicate teachers鈥� work, requiring them to procure and assemble multiple sets of materials鈥� leading to 鈥渄umbed-down鈥� 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 鈥渄ifferentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back.鈥�
鈥淭here is no one book, video, presenter, or website that will show everyone how to differentiate instruction. Let鈥檚 stop looking for it. One size rarely fits all. Our classrooms are too diverse and our communities too important for such simplistic notions,鈥� Mr. Wormeli said in an interview with Education Week blogger Larry Ferlazzo.
鈥淚nstead, let鈥檚 realize what differentiation really is: highly effective teaching, which is complex and interwoven; no one element defining it.鈥�
