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Topic: Differentiated Instruction: Extensions and Supports (Response to Intervention)

Enduring Understanding
Through effective use of technology and systems thinking, educators can function as a learning organization that focuses on continuous improvement through the effective development, alignment, delivery and management of curriculum.

Essential Question

  • How is differentiated instruction an effective approach and strategy for closing the achievement gap?

  • What change needs to occur in today's classrooms so that we adopt an approach of maximizing the capacity of each learner rather than making sure everyone performs to grade level?
Learning Event 1: What is Differentiation? (@ 30 minutes)

Q. What is differentiation?
A. A teacher reacting responsively to a learner’s need -- attending to the learning needs of a particular student or small group of students rather than the more typical pattern of teaching the class as though all individuals in it were basically alike.

Q. How can teachers differentiate instruction?
 A. Teachers can differentiate instruction through Product, Process, or Learning Style.

Q. Is differentiation possible without the use of technology?
 A. "I don't see how. It takes too much time and energy to create multiple learning options for students. It reminds me of the days I taught science and needed to help all students with their science fair projects - 120 students all working on different content and at different levels of completion. No wonder so many teachers avoided Science Fair, or just pushed it off on parents by sending home a Science Fair Kit! It was really overwhelming, even when I was younger. I still believe that without the use of technology, differentiated instruction will not take place in a high degree of quality or frequently enough to make any significant impact on student achievement.

However, with technology, we can  pull it off. When teachers plan high quality units, as you are doing now, and share those units on the web, teachers and students can all benefit. We can truly become Professional Learning Communities across the district with teachers in common grade levels and content areas sharing differentiated learning options for students to access on the computers in the lab or in the classrooms.

What are your beliefs about Differentiated Instruction?
Differentiation is not a new phenomenon. The first teacher who stood amidst a group of students amazed and intrigued by the variation among them was perhaps the 1st practitioner of differentiation in the classroom. Perhaps the concept of differentiation dates back even further: to parents who first understand that what works in guiding one child does not always work when guiding a sibling. Behind differentiated instruction lies a set of beliefs about teaching and learning.

What is the Goal?
The goal of a differentiated classroom is maximum student growth and individual success. When a teacher reacts to a learner's need -- attending to the learning needs of a particular student or small group of students instead of the more typical pattern of teaching the class as though all individuals in it were basically alike -- that teacher is demonstrating differentiated instruction. 

How Can Differentiation Be Incorporated Into Instruction?
To keep learners consistently engaged, activities and performance tasks need to be adjusted to the student’s level. Online opportunities may provide an easier format for delivering differentiated instruction than typical classroom instruction does since the teachers need not work with several particular groups at the same time. Trying to manage the needs of three separate groups in a typical classroom can be challenging for teachers. That may explain the tendency for teachers to teach to the middle, hoping the slower students will catch up and the advanced students will tolerate the less challenging pace. Teaching to the middle reinforces the perception by students that schooling is just a game: Do what you have to do, endure what you must to get the grade or credit you need, and then move on. Think of your own experience in professional development.

Spend a few minutes reflecting on your experiences with the following:
  • How often have you had to sit through professional development that was presented to the middle group? Recall the frustration you felt as a learner who had already heard the presentation or already knew the content.
  • Remember the frustration you felt when the majority of other learners in a session were obviously more skilled or experienced in a topic than you were.
  • Can you describe a professional development opportunity that modeled effective differentiated instruction?

  Think about the following information that deals with how we learn. What does this say to us about the type of instruction that takes place in our students' classrooms and in our educators' professional development programs?

According to Dr. William Glasser, world renowned psychiatrist, author, and educator, we learn:

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach to someone else  

Differentiating instruction is not a new idea or educational innovation that just recently "hatched". It is a natural outgrowth of our understanding of how children learn. Too often, we think of education as being static. What we did yesterday, we do today, and also plan to do tomorrow. We know and understand more today about how students learn and how the brain works than at anytime during the previous century. Differentiated instruction is basically good instruction. Research continues to support the need for classrooms that recognize, honor, and cultivate individuality. Explore the following principles of effective teaching and learning that educators have not always known or clearly supported.
 
Intelligence is variable.
  • Intelligence is multi-faceted.
  • We think, learn, and create in different ways.
  • Development of our potential is affected by the match between what we learn and how we learn with our particular intelligence.
  • Intelligence is fluid, not fixed
  • Providing children with rich learning experiences can amplify their intelligence.
  • Vigorous learning changes the physiology of the brain.
Humans learn best with moderate challenge.
  • Individuals learn best when they are in a context that provides a moderate challenge.
  • When a task is too difficult the learner feels threatened and goes into a self-protection mode.
  • Learning task must be adjusted to each learner's appropriate learning profile and zone.
  • Tasks must escalate in complexity and challenge for students to learn continually.
The brain hungers for meaning.
  • The brain seeks meaningful patterns and resists meaninglessness.
  • The brain is more efficient at retaining information that is "chunked."
  • The brain seeks to connect parts to wholes and individuals learn by connecting something new to something they already understand.
  • Each learner's brain is unique and educators must provide many opportunities for varied learners to make sense of ideas and information.

Note: The following extension activity is an example of how instruction can be differentiated by providing opportunities for students to use a different Process in order to get to the end result. Gifted students, of which there are definitely more than 5% as currently funded federally, need opportunities to go deeper into a subject if they have already mastered the basics. In this example, you can go deeper if you wish, and directions or scaffolding has been provided for you. By the way, students are gifted in different ways and in different content areas. Let's provide sufficient opportunities for them to go deeper in the curriculum through well designed extension activities.

- Differentiating Instruction Through Process - For additional information on differentiation, visit the ASCD web site on Differentiating Instruction. The site uses text and video clips to guide learners through an analysis of the following questions:

1. Is differentiating instruction a priority for my classroom or school?
2. Do I understand the techniques that make for a successful differentiated classroom?
3. How can I differentiate instruction in the face of standards and standardized testing?
4. What steps can I take to better understand differentiated instruction?

We know what our traditional classrooms look like but what does a differentiated classroom look like? Spend a couple of minutes with your partner looking at the profile of a traditional classroom and then try and predict what the differentiated classroom looks like or should look like. As you review each characteristic of the traditional classroom, take your mouse and highlight across the row to reveal the corresponding characteristic for the differentiated classroom. Visit the Survival Kit included in this solution for background information, tools, resources, and strategies related to the concepts and ideas presented below for differentiated classrooms.
Learning Event 2: Differentiated Instruction Through Learning Styles (@ 30 minutes)

We can differentiate instruction by provide opportunities for students to use their dominant learning style or to further develop recessive learning styles.
 
“Effective educators balance direct instruction with processing time. Humans can either attend to something or process that information in their own head. They cannot do both. After direct instruction plan an activity that will reinforce the learning. The more social and problem-solving oriented the reinforcement activity is, the greater the participants’ motivation and learning will be. “ Grigsby and Sicuro (1995) A general rule of thumb in determining how much direct instruction to give before allowing time for students to process is one minute per year of age. Adults need processing breaks every 18-20 minutes. Possible activities to use for processing breaks are:


1. Pair and Share  - (Uses Verbal Intelligence) Tell a partner what thoughts you have on the prior instruction. What analogies can you make? What does the information mean to you?

2. Paraphrasing – (Uses the Verbal and Intrapersonal Intelligence) One partner speaks then the other paraphrases what they heard. Switch roles at the next processing break. Like going to a counselor, we have the opportunity to analyze content or experiences and speak from our own perspective. We are listened to and given clarification of our ideas by a listener.

3. Rally Robin – (Uses Verbal and Interpersonal Intelligence) During a one minute break, group members take turns stating one idea they recalled from the presentation. Go around the circle as many times as possible within the allotted time frame.

4. Mind Mapping – (Uses the Visual/Spatial Intelligence) Have a student draw the concepts being discussed during direct instruction. At the processing break, the artist explains the icons, graphics, or images he/she chose to convey the ideas.

5. Team Mind Mapping – (Uses the Visual/Spatial Intelligence) Similar to mind mapping, but teams draw on large paper and discuss ideas for graphic representation during the processing break.

6. Paraphrase Passport – (Uses the Verbal and Interpersonal Intelligence) After direct instruction, one person in the pair or team shares an idea. Any student can go next and share an idea, but first they must paraphrase comments of the person who spoke previously, checking for accuracy before sharing his/her idea.

Learning Event 3: Differentiated Instruction Through Product or Interest (@ 20 minutes)

We can differentiate instruction by providing multiple entry points for the learner based on his or her interest. The following is provided as an example of a student project that allows multiple entry points to approach a unit of study on World War II. Imagine the entry points being displayed graphically. Students could select starting points to uncover the history of World War II by approaching it from the eight multiple intelligences. Each student could investigate the topic from one of their identified strengths as an independent study project orchestrated into the unit. Finally, students could present their information to the class. Students can add slides to a class Powerpoint for a product as seen in Living Through Conflict.

Presenting the Problem: World War II was a period in history where America realized it could not isolate itself from the rest of the world. The issues Americans were struggling with can be seen in the artwork, music, dance, and technology of the time. We can study the way Americans in the Forties expressed themselves and discover what it was like to live in a world of conflict. By learning how Americans responded to the challenges they faced, we can learn more about ourselves as a society half a century later. Are we as a society very different from our ancestors? What about us has changed? How would we as a society respond if we were faced with the same issues? Choose the learning style you feel most comfortable with and explore the World War II era from that perspective.   

Kinesthetic – Explore the dance craze of Forties, swing dancing. Watch the movie, Swing Kids, and analyze what the dance movement represented to the teenagers featured in the movie. Why was involvement in a dance representative of everything the war was about? What could have caused the rapid popularity of the new form of dancing? What did the dance ultimately represent for the young characters in the movie? Swingdance and U.S. Swing Dance Council
Visual Spatial – Explore artwork from WWII seen in propaganda advertising, recruiting and film genre. How were propaganda images used to influence the mainstream views on the war? WWII Propaganda Posters,  Powers of Persuasion, British WWII Propaganda Posters
Verbal Linguistic – Listen to speeches online from the era and summarize the powerful and inspirational parts of the speeches. Great American Speeches
Interpersonal – Consider primary source documentation from the era and present the emotional effect the war had on the different groups involved. Memories of War
Intrapersonal – Analyze the reasons soldiers were recruited into the war. What were the driving influencers? What would your primary motivator be to participate in the war effort? Memories of War
Mathematical – Analyze statistics from the war on size of armies, number of ships, etc. to determine if the war was consistent with probability. Statistics of World War II
Musical/Rhythmic - Research the most popular songs of the War era. What were the consistent themes found in the songs? What impact do you think music and lyrics had on the different groups involved? Are any of the themes represented in the War era found in popular songs today? If not, what do you see as the main difference? Popular Songs from the Forties
Naturalist – Explore the effects of war on the environment. What were the long-term and short-term effects on the environment? The Atomic Bomb, Radiation Effects Research Foundation

Review the following resources on Differentiated Instruction:
These links are also  found in the For Teachers section in District 11 online curriculum. to access teacher pages, use your e-mail login and password with the following web address before your login name. The login for Jane Doe would be:
login = cssd11\doej
password = jane's e-mail password

SIOP Strategies: Eight Components of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol - includes excellent resources for teachers in every content area that can immediately be used to assist English Language Learners. District 11 is experiencing an unprecedented increase in ESL students, primarily Spanish speaking, but including students from many countries representing many dialects and languages. In District 11, the number of ELL students increased from approximately 1900 in 2006-2007 to over 2400 at the beginning of the 2007 school year. Now, more than ever, teachers need effective resources and tools to help these students be successful.

MCREL Strategies - includes 9 research-based strategies that are most likely to improve student achievement across all content areas and across all grade levels.

Gifted & Talented Strategies for Use in Regular Education Classrooms:
Science Extensions   Math Extensions   Social Studies Extensions   Literacy Extensions

 

Note: The following Action Research activity is optional, and is not required for District 11 teachers. However, you should spend a few minutes skimming the activity to see an example of how an extension activity can be written. Notice that it does not require any teacher intervention. Students could access grade appropriate activities such as this from computers in the lab or classroom. Self-directed learners will welcome the opportunity to work on their own, especially if they are asked to teach the class what they learned in the extension activity.

Action Research

To determine if the strategies you just read are truly effective in increasing student understanding, test the concept with your own students. Observe the difference between direct instruction void of processing breaks and direct instruction with processing breaks for making connections to prior experience.

  •  With one group of students, deliver instruction without giving students the ability to discuss with analogies or connections at processing breaks.

  • With another group, allow time for students to participate in one of the processing break strategies.

  • Give either an informal or formal assessment of the learning and compare the results of the two groups.

  • After completing the research activity consider ways to build in processing breaks for your online classes. How could that best be achieved?

If you are finished with the previous Learning Events, and you would like to learn more, take a few minutes to briefly explore this activity. This extended activity will provide a strong background for helping you develop your classroom plan for differentiated instruction. It focuses on the brain and learning. Before the next module, spend some more time investigating the resources from ASCD.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Web site is an excellent resource for research on brain compatible learning. Spend a few minutes looking over the types of information and resources available. You will read several articles on how the brain works, and view several videos on common questions about the brain and learning.  As you progress through the web pages, think of how your can include a similar electronic tutorial that could provide essential information or skills training to help your lagging students catch up, or provide opportunities for students to receive enrichment.

Here are some additional articles that will help you to continue to develop your understanding and skills of brain-compatible learning.

Learning Event 4: Differentiating Instruction Through Content (@ 30 minutes)

 The examples of differentiated instruction above should give you an idea of the types of activities you could include in your lessons to extend the learning and to provide Tier 2 and 3 support for learners that do not master the concepts or skills after receiving Tier 1 Instruction. Use this time to enhance the core lessons (Tier 1) you have designed, and add extended activities or Tier 2 - 3 supports to those lessons that you believe need support or extended learning opportunities. Adding extended activities and Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports To your lessons is a way of differentiating instruction by modifying the content students access.

"Some of my students had a difficult time understanding the different forms of punctuation. As a Tier 2 Support Strategy, we gathered together all of the second graders that did not master the punctuation standard and took them on a Reading Field Trip. We knew that incorporating purposeful movement into learning is beneficial regardless of students age. This Tier 2 support is an example of modifying the process for learning. The physical movement really helped lock in the concept for these students. I knew it was a successful strategy, but did not realize it was so closely correlated to the kinesthetic intelligence until our faculty started studying Howard Gardner’s work."   
Transcript

We can differentiate instruction by modifying content, process, and/or products.

Using assessment data, teachers can modify content, process, and product.

  • Content -- what we want students to learn and the mode through which it is accomplished.

  • Process -- activities designed to ensure that learners use key skills to make sense out of essential ideas and information.

  • Product -- vehicles through which students demonstrate and extend what they have learned.

Students vary in readiness, interest, and learning profile.

  • Readiness -- a student's entry point relative to a particular understanding or skill.

  • Students with less-developed readiness may need:

    • someone to help them identify and make up gaps in learning

    • more opportunities for direct instruction and practice

    • more structured or concrete activities and products tailored to learning style

    • a more deliberate pace of learning.

  • Advanced students may need:

    • to skip practice with previously mastered skills and understandings

    • complex, open-ended, and abstract activities and products

    • varied work pace to allow for greater depth of topic exploration.

  • Interest -- a student's affinity, curiosity, or passion for a topic or skill.

  • Learning profile -- a student's particular way of learning.

    • shaped by intelligence, preferences, gender, culture, or learning style.

What is RTI? 'Response to Intervention' (RTI) is an emerging approach to the diagnosis of Learning Disabilities that holds considerable promise. In the RTI model, a student with academic delays is given one or more research-validated interventions. The student's academic progress is monitored frequently to see if those interventions are sufficient to help the student to catch up with his or her peers. If the student fails to show significantly improved academic skills despite several well-designed and implemented interventions, this failure to 'respond to intervention' can be viewed as evidence of an underlying Learning Disability.

One advantage of RTI is that it allows schools to intervene early to meet the needs of struggling learners. Another is that RTI maps those specific instructional strategies found to benefit a particular student. This information can be very helpful to both teachers and parents.

How do schools put RTI into practice? To implement RTI effectively, schools must develop a specialized set of tools and competencies, including a structured format for problem-solving, knowledge of a range of scientifically based interventions that address common reasons for school failure, and the ability to use various methods of assessment to monitor student progress in academic and behavioral areas. A quality Response to Intervention model includes the following:

  1. Understand the model

  2. Use teams to problem solve

  3. Select the right intervention

  4. Monitor student progress

  5. Graph data for visual analysis

Intervention Central at http://www.interventioncentral.org offers free tools and resources to help school staff foster effective learning for all children and youth. The site was created by Jim Wright, a school psychologist and school administrator from Central New York.
Visit to check out newly posted academic strategies, download publications on effective teaching practices, and use tools that streamline classroom assessment and intervention. Some of these resources are as easy as copy and paste into your lessons in the Interventions section. Just be sure to cite Intervention Central as the original source.


Match Interventions to Student Needs

Well-matched, research-based strategies have a higher probability of being effective while ineffective interventions can even worsen a child’s learning problems.
 

  1. First, check whether the student is motivated to apply his/her best effort

  2. Second, if motivation is not an issue identify the student’ stage of learning the skill:
    Acquisition – just learning a new skill
    Fluency – Accurate, but slow
    Generalization – unable to apply the skill to different situations or settings
    Adaptation – unable to modify or adapt the skill to fit new tasks or situations

Building an Intervention Bank - 3 simple steps to maximizing the effectiveness of interventions
 

  1. Team identifies common teacher referral concerns

  2. Team locates research-based interventions from reliable sources including the Council for Exceptional Children and the National Association of School Psychologists.

  3. Interventions are rewritten in teacher friendly, step-by-step instructions.

Paradox
Here's the problem. Once teachers know HOW to differentiate lessons through content, product or process, there is a strong likelihood that even the best teachers will not differentiate instruction frequently enough or in a significant manner to make any gains in student achievement. Why? Research on human behavior tells us that even well intentioned reform efforts occur only randomly and sporadically across an institution if the employees do not have a clear understanding of WHY the reform is so critical. If you want to gain a full understanding of WHY effective instructional differentiation has short and long term benefits for the learner and the teacher, review the course materials on Lifelong Learning and Personal Mastery. This is a 30 hour (1 Continuing Education credit) professional development opportunity that answers the question, "Why should I differentiate instruction?" It helps a teacher define his or her personality traits, brain dominance, and learning profile as it provides information on how differently others process information. Often times, it is not cultural, ethnic, or religious issues that separate us, but a lack of understanding for how others think and process information based on inherent personality and brain wiring. Tell your instructor if you are interested in taking this blended (online and face to face) professional development.
 
Learning Event 5: Add Extensions and Supports to You Unit (@ 90 minutes)

Include opportunities for differentiation through extensions (gifted opportunities to explore deeper) and for supports (remedial assistance) in your Instructional Unit. Use the Holistic Rubric for Differentiated Instruction: Supports and Extensions as a guide. To receive full credit (15 pts.) your Instructional Unit must meet the requirements specified in the rubric.

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