Using Data to Differentiate Instruction
Products: Multiple Options for Expressing Knowledge
- Screening and progress monitoring are necessary to determine student readiness and student progress.
- Students are actively engaged in meaningful and appropriate tasks aligned with standards that are to be learned.
- Every student should feel challenged most of the time.
- Vary the expectations and methods of response. A well-designed student product provides varying degrees of difficulty and allows alternative procedures and varied means of expression, types of evaluation, and scoring.
- Initial and ongoing assessment of student readiness and growth are essential. Meaningful pre-assessment naturally leads to functional and successful differentiation. Assessments may be formal or informal. These may include interviews, surveys, performance assessments, and more formal evaluation procedures. Incorporating pre-assessment and ongoing assessment informs teachers so they can better provide a menu of approaches, choices, and scaffolds for the varying needs, interests, and abilities that exist in classrooms with diverse students.
Vary expectations and requirements for student responses. Items to which students respond may be differentiated for students to demonstrate or express their knowledge and understanding.
