Differentiated Learning and Reading Instruction

What is differentiated instruction?  It is touted as an approach to teaching that asks teachers to provide their students with educational experiences, activities, and tasks that are tailored to each student’s learning approach.  It requires teachers to provide multiple options for taking in learning and assessing learning.  In other words, teachers need to observe and understand their students in such a way that they can provide instruction tailored to their students’ needs.  What does this entail in practice?

·      More reliance on formative assessment

·      More recognition of diversity in learning

·      More student group work

·      More problem solving exercises and activities

·      More student choice in learning

Continuous assessment of student strengths and weaknesses.  Recognition that students present diverse levels of expertise and experience in every area of learning.  Leveraging of peer learning from heterogeneous student work groups. Focus on concept, concept formation and concept use, rather than textbook or chapter review, allowing for the exploration of the big ideas.  And student choice in how they receive their learning.

This sounds like Universal Design for learning!

Does it work?  Research shows … yes … it does work.  By middle school most students in the US begin to lose interest in reading.  They read less on their own and begin to fall behind grade level in reading in the classroom.  The US Department of Education noted that 8 million+ students in grades 4 through 12 struggle with reading.  70% of these struggling readers would benefit from differentiated instruction, tailored to their individual learning styles.

What would this look like in practice.  Start with a brief reading warm up exercise.  Then to leverage formative assessment, have each student in the class read aloud.  Infuse questioning, discussion and writing into the read aloud exercise to build comprehension and understanding.  Follow this by dividing the class into small, heterogenous groups and allow the students to explore ideas, concepts, meaning, connections in what was just read in class.  Have the students write what emerges in the small group discussions, leveraging another modality of learning.  Finally, assess the student’s reading starting where the student is.  Some students night write a paragraph about what was just read aloud and discussed.  Other students might create a performance of art project to show what they learned from the reading and discussion.  Still others might prepare an oral presentation on what they learned from the reading and discussion. 

This sounds like Universal Design for Learning also!