Differentiation: LessonsExamining how master teachersweave differentiation into theirdaily practice can help reluctantteachers take the plunge.

Jennifer Carolan and Abigail Guinn

Diversity is a gold mine. It offers all members of adiverse group multiple ideas, perspectives, andsolutions to problems. Teachers can nurture thisdis'ersity early on by maximizing the potentialof each student in their classrooms, including

students who come to the class with defined disahiliiies. Andpracticing differentiated instruction, matching teaching to theneeds of each learner, is an ideal way to help diversity thrive.

As school districts embrace differentiated instruction andstrive lo increase teachers' comfort level vrith it, a close studyof the daily practice of expert teachers is a key—diough under-used—resource.

Barriers to DifferentiationMany leacliers hesitate to weave differentiated practices intotheir classroom methods because they believe that they lacktime, professional development resources, and administrativesuppori (Hootstein, 1998). Everest (2003) contends thatsome see differentiation as another bureaucratic tnandateheaped onto their already burgeoning workloads. These barri-ers are real; if not addressed, they threaten lo turn differentia-tion inlo the next education fad.

Many educators mistakenly think that differentiation meansteaching everything in al leasi three diflerenl ways—that a dif-ferentiated classroom functions like a dinner buffet. This isntK differentiation, nor is il practical. A classroom in whichteaching is tailored to the individual needs of students doeslook dilTereni [rom a one-size-fiis-alt classroom, bui oftenthese differences are less dramatic than teachers believe. Forexample, a teacher who corLjures up a metaphor matched to astudent's cognitive ability and personal interests is differentiat-ing, as is a teacher who pushes die thinking of an advancedstudent during a whole-class discussion.

Many expert teachers were master differentiators long be-fore ihe term was popularized. Through years of tinkering,ihcy have learned which strategies to use and when. By turn-ing to the classrooms of these expert teachers, we can observe

how successful differentiators overcome common obstaclesand seamlessly weave differentiation strategies into their prac-tice while staying true to their personal style.

Observing the ExpertsWe set out to take a close look at how five outstanding teach-ers taught a broad range of learners in their classrooms. Fromfall 2005 to spring 2006, we obserx^ed the teachers' classes intwo middle schools in a high-performing district near SanFrancisco, California. Students with disabilities ranging fromADHD 10 severe hearing loss and physical disabilities weremalnstreamed into regular education classrooms in theseschooU. Through more than 35 hours of inteniews and class-room observations, we probed these teachers' attitudes towarddiffereniiating instruction. We focused on iheir overarchingbeliefs, their daily routines, and their subtle strategies.

44 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/FI-BRUARY 2007

from Master Teachers

Al ihe center of all five teachers' classrooms, we encoun-icred strategies thai addressed individual needs. Four com-mon characteristics surfaced:

• Offering personalized scaffolding.• Using Hexible means to reach defined ends.• Mining subject-area expertise.• Creating a caring classroom in which differences are seen

as assets.The following examples illustrate these characteristics in

action.

Offering PersonaUzed ScaffoldingScaffolds are lemporar)' supports that help a learner bridgethe gap between what he or she can do and what he or sheneeds to do to succeed at a learning task (Graves & Braaten,1996). To guarantee that each student internalized complex

concepts, these teachers consistently provided scaffolding,often inventing supports on the spot as a student laltered.They drew on a rich mental database of examples, metaphors,and enrichment ideas. Personalized supports often took theform of tailored examples; all five teachers worked hard tounderstand lheir students. They huih ample one-on-one timeinto the class structure.

In Mrs. L's poetry unit, learning goals included an under-standing of die terms mct(iphoi\ alliteration, sinVilc, and rhythm.On a day we observed het; 8th graders working individuallyon analyzing and 'ATiting poems. Mrs. L checked in withevery studenl. She helped a siudeni struggling to understandan extended metaphor by working through the LangstonHughes poem "Mother to Son." For another student strug-gling with rhythm, she pointed out poems across variousgenres with different rhythmic patterns. She asked an ad-vanced leamer. "How might a poem retain its literary integritywhen translated into another language?"

Using Flexible Meam to Reach Defined EndsRegardless of their discipline, expert teachers first ensuredthat clear learning goals guided their curricular decision mak-ing. Then they inserted related skills and specific contentknowledge through a backward design process (see McTighe& Wiggins, 1998). Alter they established curricular directionand content, these teachers offered multiple ways for studentsto demonstrate what they knew. Designing and facilitatingmultiple paths to reach defined learning goals is one of thehallmarks of successful differentiation.

"Multiple paths" does noE mean that students are given freerein; it means thai teachers must find that sweet spot betweenstmcture and choice thai makes student learning possible. De-signing multiple paths to a laming goal is especially imponantfor students with learning disabilities, who are often muchstronger in a few areas of intelligence than in other areas. By al-lowing options that accommodate different thinking patterns,teachers help all students not only achieve planned learninggoals but also own these goals in a way that's all theirs.

Mrs. D identified clear learning goals for her 6th grade uniton Egypt. One goal, drawn from state standards, was to ana-lyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and socialstructures of early Egyptian .civilizations. Students had lati-tude to pursue their own interests in fulfilling this goal. Threestudents presented lheir understanding of Egyptian civiliza-tions through different bnnats that aligned wiih their inter-ests and accommodated their learning differences. Onestudent with infonnation prtx:essing difficulties worked

ASSOCIATION FOB SUPERVISION AND CURRIU'IUM 45

wiihin a small group to col-lect research on mummifica-tion; his role was to readaloud and discuss informa-tion with group members.Another student diagnosedwith ADD worked on acontent-relevant analyticexercise in the class library,free of distractions. And astudent with Asperger'ssyndrome designed acomputer-based interactivegraphic of King Zoser's steppyramid that allowed theuser to climb the pyramid,with text on each step high-lighting the pyramid's importance.

Mining Subject-Area ExpertiseNol only did these teachers know thelandscape of their subject matter, but theyalso showed multiple ways to navigate it.Beyond possessing content knowledge.they understood how learners come toknow that subjeci (see Shulman. 1986).where students might stumble, wliat pre-conceptions students might liave, andhow' to match content with instructionalmethod in a way that connects to dilTer-ent learning styles and levels.

To introduce a math unit on probabil-ity, Mr P put the following warm-upproblem (using names of students in theclass) on the board:

it is a tie game between the L. A. Lakersand the Miami Heai in game 7 of the NBAlinals. As the buzzer sounds, Kobe, whopiays ior the Lakers, fouls Shaq, a Heatteam member, giving Shaq rwo freethrows. Blake, Brooke, and Tommy allknow tiiai Shaq is a 50 percent free-throwshooter. Blake says, "1 know the Lakershave a 50 percent chance of going to over-time because Shaq misses his shots 50 per-cent of lhe time," Brooke says. "1 amcertain the Heat will win because Shaqonly needs to make 1 out of 2, and Sh-iqshoots 30 percent." Tommy says, "1 thinkyou're both wrong." Do you agree withBlake. Brooke, or Tommy? Exjilain yourthinking in words, diagrams, or arithmetic.

Many educatorsmistakenly thinkthat a differentiatedclassroom functionslike a dinner huffet.

Ten mmutes later Mr. P directed stu-dents to move to the comer of the roomnear the student their answer agreedwith—Blake, Tommy, or Brooke. A classdebate followed, in which students triedto convince others to take their position.

This exercise is a far cr>' from the ster-ile math problems at the start of thetextbook's statistics chapter. Mr. P's com-bination of probability knowledge anddevelopmental understanding enabledhim to tweak standardized materials,transforming a dry problem into an en-gaging puzzle for his Sth grade students.In addition, he tapped different learningstyles by urging his students to thinkthrough the problem in words, dia-grams, or arithmetic. Mr. P encouragedhis students to think in whatever waythey find most natural, especially whenlearning a new concept.

Creating CaringClassroomsThese expert teachers createdwhat Noddings has called a"caring classroom"—an envi-ronment that is safe, demo-cratic, diveree, and inclusive(Noddings, 1984). Althoughit has received more attentionrecently, the affective compo-nent of differentiation hasoften been overlooked. Eachof the teachers we studied

f considered the social andemotional aspects of theclassroom environment es-sential to differentiation.

Rather than seeing differences in ability,culture, language, or interests as hurdles,these teachers turned differences into as-sets. They modeled respect for diversity.In their classrooms, students acknowl-edged and \'alued the unic^ue attributesof peers.

Mrs. D's class was deeply engaged in agame of "Family Feud." Students workedin teams to answer questions about theancient Kush Kingdom. Although allstudents had listened to the opera Aida,only a few had done independent re-search digging further into the opera,which was an optional part of the classproject. Students on both teams lookedto Jason, who had studied Aida in depth.In the audience, students encouragedtheir classmates to "Use a lifeline! CallJasonT Identified as having Asperger'ssyndrome, Jason often worked on hisown, exploring atypical topics. He rarelyinteracted socially However, students inthis class often eagerly sought help fromJason as an expert. In a classroom likeMrs. D's that values a diveree range of in-terests, Jason's unusual choice of studybecame an

Tapping the Wisdomofthe ExpertsAs more school districts support differ-entiation, expert teachers within ourschools provide an invaluable resource

46 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/FEBRUARY 2007

for teacher learning. Obser\'ing how realteachers practice differentiation illumi-nates the complexity of addressing theneeds of all students, We suggest twopractical ways to integrate what we canlearn from expert teachers into profes-sional development.

• Mentoring relationships. Pair a novice

teacher with an experi teacher in thesame subject area. Observations andjoint lesson-planning sessions will givethe novice opportunities lo leam thenuanced ways in which experi teachersdifferentiate curriculum and instruction.In addition, we found that the expertteachers we studied struggled to articu-late how differentiation plays out intheir classrooms. A mentoring relation-ship gives expert teachers a chance toreflecl on their knowledge and diinkabout their practice with fresh insight.

• Opportunities to vinv examples ojdij-

Jerentiation. To master a strategy as com-plex as differentiation, teachers needconcrete examples and a common ana-lytic vocabulary. Through observingvideo or digital tapes of good differentia-tion practice, teachers can zoom in onspecific teacher actions and discuss thepurposes behind those actions. Teachersshould be organized into small, subject-specific groups and given targeted ques-tions before watching the teaching clip.

Well-honed strategies for how to re-spond to each indixiduals abilities areoften hidden behind the closed doors ofexpert teachers' classrooms- It's time toopen these doors and see the dynamicand complex nature of differentiation inpractice, 13

ReferencesEverest. C, (2003. February 18). Differentia-

tion, the new monster in education. The

I

Education Guardian.Grayes. M., 6r Braaten, S. 1,1996). ScatToided

reading experiences lor inclusive classes.Educational leadership, 53(5), 14-16.

Hodsiein, E. (199H. November). Differentia-tion of instruaional methodoh^es in subject-based curricula al the secondary level(Research Brief No. 38). Richmond, VA,Metropoliian Education Research Coa'̂ or-tium,

McTigheJ.. & Wiggins. G. t]998). Under-standing by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Nodding. N. (1984). Caring: A feminine ap-proach to ethics and moral education- Berke-ley: University ol'Caliromia Press,

Shulman, L. (1986), Those who undersumd:Knowledge growth in teaching. Educa-

Researcher. 15(2), 4-14.

Jennifer Carolan is a research analyst atNew Schools Venture Fund; 408-460-9122; jcarolan@newschools.org. AbigailGuinn is Director of Giobat Education atthe Phillips Brooks School in Menio Park,California; 650-854-4545; agumn@phillipsbrooks,org.

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