1. Chapter 10 Differentiation and Diversity
Rebecca Wendt and Jennifer Fields

2. Section 10.1:Differentiated Instruction
Definition = instruction that is designed to flex to meet the varying needs of students within a class

3. Principles that guide differentiated classrooms:
The teacher focuses on the essentials
The teacher attends to student differences
Assessment and instruction are inseparable
The teacher modifies content, process, and products

4. More Principles.. All students participate in respectful work
The teacher and students collaborate in learning
The teacher balances group and individual norms
The teacher and students work together flexibly

5. Helpful things to facilitate differentiation
Centers – can be a natural setting for activities at varied levels
Stations - set out areas of the classroom in which students can work on varied tasks simultaneously
Contracts - can be used for individual assignments or as a class activity with two or three possible contracts – each with challenging options appropriate to a particular level
Agendas - provide students with an individualized list of tasks to be completed in a specified amount of time

6. Tiered activities
a key strategy when teachers want to ensure that students all work on key skills or essential ideas, but still address varied learning needs

7. Reading Workshop Program
A great approach for dealing with varied reading levels.
In a reading workshop, skills lessons are targeted at either the whole class or small groups, depending on need
The bulk of reading time is spent on self-selected reading and responding

8. Heterogeneous Cooperative Groups
One of the key skills for teachers who want to differentiate instruction is learning to differentiate within heterogeneous cooperative groups
This can link the advantages of working with many types of students to the strengths of assignments targeted to specific needs

9. Peer Tutoring Activities
Carefully planned peer tutoring activities can benefit many students
Students learn best from a model they perceive is similar to themselves
Tutoring should represent only a limited portion of the school day

10. The key to successful planning for elementary classes is to remember that classes never learn anything…only individual children learn, one at a time.

11. Prioritize Lessons
It is important for teachers to prioritize lessons to determine when differentiation is most important:
Consider the content
Consider the students themselves, particularly those with the most extreme individual needs
Consider each student’s experience over a period of a day or week

12. All students should spend at least part of every day engaging in activities that specifically target their needs!

13. Section 10.2: Teaching Students With Educational Disabilities
Disability = a condition that results in a reduced competency to perform some task or behavior, whether the condition is physical, emotional, or intellectual
Educational disabilities = disabilities that impede regular educational activities

14. Major Classifications and Impairments
The major classifications of disabilities include students with these impairments:
Mental impairments
Physical or other health impairments
Sensory impairments
Speech impairments
Emotional impairments
Learning disabilities
- All of the listed impairments may occur in a range from mild, to moderate, to severe, to profound

15. Disability Categories
91% of the children and youth receiving special education services are reported in four disability categories:
Learning disabilities (51.1%)
Speech and language impairments (20.1%)
Mental impairments (11.4%)
Emotional disturbances (8.6%)
- Children with disabilities in special education represent about 10% of the entire school-age population

16. Handicap vs. Disability
Handicap = the disadvantage one suffers from the effects of a disability
The extent to which an individual is handicapped is a result of both the severity of the disability and the degree of assistance offered by society
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is helpful in understanding the relationship between a disability and a handicap

17. IDEA and its 6 Major Principles
Schools must educate all children
Schools must use nonbiased and multifactored methods of assessing disabilities
Education for students with disabilities must be provided at public expense, including an individualized education program (IEP) designed to meet the child’s unique needs
Students must be educated in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs
Schools must provide due process to protect the rights of students with disabilities and their parents
Parents and students should have the opportunity to collaborate with schools in the design and implementation of specialized services

18. Disability Characteristics and Challenges
Some students need special equipment, materials, and support personnel
Some students qualify for government support because they are also economically disadvantaged; others do not
Some disabilities are hard to identify, particularly in students with multiple disabilities or students for whom English is not the primary language

19. Least Restrictive Environment
To provide all students with the least restrictive environment possible, a variety of services has evolved:
Full-time regular classroom
Regular classroom for a majority of the school program
Self-contained classroom for a majority of the school program
Self-contained classroom for the instructional program but within the regular school building
Separate school

20. Did you know…
It is likely that teachers will have one or more students with disabilities in the classroom?

21. I.E.P (Individualized Education Plan)
Each student will require an IEP, which must include the following:
A statement of the child’s present levels of educational performance
A statement of annual goals, including short-term objectives
A statement of the specific educational services to be provided and the extent to which the child will be able to participate in regular programs
The projected date for initiation and anticipated duration of such services
Appropriate objective criteria and evaluation procedures and schedules for determining whether instructional objectives are being met
The IEP must also be developed by the student’s teacher and the student’s parents or guardians, and approved by the school administrator

22. Inclusion
Inclusion = when students with disabilities spend all or part of the day in regular classrooms

23. Inclusion
In an inclusion classroom, the test is whether the severely disabled students benefits from participation in the regular classroom work and not whether the student is able to maintain a work performance level similar to that of other students

24. Inclusion
Where inclusion is common, the student does not follow assistance personnel and services; rather, the personnel and services follow the child
These personnel may include resource teachers, paraprofessionals, translators, therapists, readers, and many others

25. Successful Inclusive Education
A school that successfully implements inclusive education has been characterized as a place where the following occur on a daily basis:
Heterogeneous grouping
A sense of belonging to a group
Shared activities with individualized outcomes
Use of environments frequented by people without disabilities
A balanced educational experience

26. It is not that simple!
Simply placing students with disabilities in general education does not constitute inclusion and will not guarantee that children with disabilities will learn or that they will be accepted by other students
It is important that teachers educate non-disabled students about their classmates
The levels of support provided, type and severity of disabilities, and number of inclusion students in a particular classroom all contribute to the success or failure of the effort

27. Strategies for Successful Inclusion
Allow peers to facilitate learning
Structure class activities to make peer support available
Prepare students to be successful
Give students valued roles
Use existing expertise
Use independent prompts
Vary the amount of work required
Adjust delivery of information
Allow students to express information in varied ways
Present alternative activities

28. Strategies for teaching students with disabilities:
Learn as much as you can about the needs of students in your class
Avoid calling special attention to the student’s disability
Do not make assumptions based on the disability
Establish a classroom environment in which it is common for students of different background and capabilities to learn from each other
Be enthusiastic and give positive reinforcement
Be sure to have a systematic framework to organize your classroom activities
Consider using a criterion-referenced evaluation approach in judging the performance of a student with a disability
Become an advocate for the student with a disability

29. Advantages of Inclusion
The integration of students with disabilities into regular classrooms has been a consistent element of local, state, and federal education policy since the 1970s
There are a number of advantages to inclusion:
The opportunity for cooperative learning
The lessening of isolation experienced by special students
The democratic values that are strengthened
The reduction in stereotypes, prejudice, misconceptions, and superstition concerning individuals with disabilities
The promise it holds for the continuation of such values into the adult world

30. Disadvantages of Inclusion
The increased costs of enhances support needed for educating these students in multiple environments
The instructional demands on the regular classroom teacher
The additional paperwork burden on school districts

31. Section 10.3: Teaching Gifted and Talented Students
There is no consensus on what constitutes a “gifted” student
Traditionally, giftedness has been identified by a high score on an IQ test; however, that is not a particularly good predictor of adult giftedness
There is no doubt that students’ prior knowledge, cultural background, and previous school experiences have a significant impact on test scores
IQ scores cannot assess an individual’s total intellectual or academic potential – or identify giftedness

32. U.S. Dept. of Education Definition
In 1993, the U.S. Dept. of Education proposed a definition that limited use of the word “gifted” to adults and focused on developing talent in children
It defined young people with outstanding talent as those who:
Show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment…in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas…leadership capacity…or specific academic fields
This definition marks an important shift from an emphasis on giftedness as a trait to a characteristic that is developed over time and affected by experience

33. Creative Producers
Creative producers = producers of information and art rather than simply consumers
Those who were responsible for a major invention, made a scientific discovery, or created a work of art or literature

34. Schoolhouse Giftedness and Creative Productivity
Schoolhouse giftedness = the ability to consume, analyze, and reproduce information
Creative productivity = the ability to generate new information

35. Three-ring Conception of Giftedness
designed specifically to reflect research on creative producers, in the hopes that, it we identified the ways in which giftedness “works” in adults, we might be able to identify or encourage it in young people
Consists of three interlocking circles: above-average ability, creativity, and task commitment

36. Characteristics Often Associated with Giftedness
Good memory
Persistence
Sensitivity to feeling of self or others
Highly developed verbal skills
Enjoyment of abstract ideas
Large knowledge base

37. Features may also be hidden
Cultural differences and various types of disabilities may obscure teachers’ understanding of students’ abilities

38. Role of the School
Some school districts allow gifted or talented students to spend part or all of the day in classes designed to provide challenging experiences
Other schools offer advanced independent study options or seminars that allow students to investigate a variety of interests or strengths
However, most gifted students spend the majority of their time in regular classrooms, under the direction of a classroom teacher

39. The role of the Teacher
It is the obligation of every teacher to make sure that each student in the classroom has the opportunity to learn
It is the teacher’s responsibility to set new goals for the students to reach
The importance of examining curriculum goals for prior mastery is not limited to the top few students in a class
Assessing students’ regular curriculum is important for all students, and it is particularly vital for able learners

40. Curriculum Compacting
Curriculum compacting = involves diagnosing which of the skills in a particular unit of study some students have already mastered
This assessment is focused on identifying areas of the curriculum that may be unnecessary or repetitious for some students

41. Contract
Contract = generally identifies activities that must be completed to help a student master the regular content, as well as related enrichment activities
Periodic individual conferences can be helpful in assessing students’ progress, as well as finding areas of difficulty and planning further activities

42. Acceleration
Acceleration = the pursuit of the regular curriculum at a faster pace.
It may encompass advancement in a single subject, grade skipping, or early entrance to college

43. Enrichment
Enrichment = the incorporation of activities outside the regular curriculum
One type of enrichment can be developed by adapting assignments or techniques in the curriculum to provide additional challenge
A second category of enrichment is interdisciplinary teaching, which is particularly suited to students whose excellent abstract reasoning abilities allow them to make ties among ideas in various disciplines
The third type of enrichment often recommended for bright students is independent investigations that culminate in some type of product
Independent investigations is referred to as “Type III enrichment” – individuals or small groups pursuing real problems

44. Enrichment Triad Model: Type I
The first consists of general exploratory activities designed to help students identify their interests and encourage them to investigate these interests further (guest speakers, movies)
The most important objectives of Type I enrichment are to:
Expose students to as many varied topics as possible
Encourage them to identify areas of interest and learn more

45. Enrichment Triad Model: Type II and Type III
Type II enrichment is composed of group training activities that can provide students with the tools they need to become independent investigators (using internet, problem solving)
Planning both Type I and II enrichment for many students can help you identify students with the interest and motivation to pursue an individual Type III project
Type III enrichment consists of individual and small group investigations of real problems

46. Affective and Cognitive Needs
Like all young people, highly able students have affective as well as cognitive needs; Most are well liked and socially adept
However, there are some characteristics of bright students that can impact their emotional needs

47. Differences that can impact emotional needs
One of the factors is the differences in their levels of physical, intellectual, and emotional maturity
It is important that gifted students have many types of peers and interaction with others working on the same instructional level

48. Perfectionism
Teachers of bright young people must be wary of the dangers of perfectionism
Sometimes students develop an image of themselves that demands that everything they do be done perfectly – anything less is seen as a failure
This can be disabling and potentially dangerous to healthy emotional development

49. If many of the strategies recommended for bright students are used for all students, some teachers may be led to believe that gifted students’ needs are automatically being met within the regular curriculum and teachers need to have no further concerns about them….
THIS IS NOT TRUE!

50. However… The challenge is to help all children learn
Educators must still be open to recognizing special needs and advanced abilities that demand more challenge than even the best curriculum can offer
Providing needed adaptations can help all students find school to be a place of learning, challenge, and opportunity

51. Section 10.4: Teaching Culturally Diverse and Bilingual Students
Home and family backgrounds are important in determining the experiences, attitudes, interests, and beliefs that students bring to school

52. Cultural Pluralism
Cultural pluralism = where ethnic groups retained their cultural heritage, traditions, and values while still adopting aspects of the Anglo-Western culture
Unfortunately, this concept of cultural pluralism has not been completely accepted in our society

53. Did you know…
Students of color are 2.3 times more likely to be labeled as mentally impaired than a white child?
It is crucial that the evaluation of students’ abilities be based on their performance on appropriate tasks, not on racial or cultural stereotypes!

54. Conditions of Cultural Pluralism
Three main conditions support cultural pluralism in schools:
Positive teacher expectations
A learning environment that encourages positive inter-group contact
A pluralistic (multicultural) curriculum
Research has indicated that in classes where teachers held higher expectations for all students, higher general student performance resulted

55. Student Behavior
Students tend to behave as teachers expect them to behave
The view of a student’s expected performance is communicated to the student by verbal and nonverbal behaviors

56. How teachers view low achievers
Provide general, often insincere praise
Provide them with less feedback
Demand less effort from them
Interrupt them more often
Paid less attention to them
Criticized them more often

57. Students who are perceived as high achievers….
Were given more opportunities for response
Received more praise and detailed feedback
Were given prompts or probes if they seemed to be having difficulty
Were allowed more time to respond to questions
Were provided supportive communications (compliments, physical closeness, active listening)

58. Lesson Prejudice in the Classroom
Four basic conditions are necessary if social contact between groups is to lessen prejudice and lead to friendly attitudes and behaviors:
Contact should be sufficiently intimate to produce reciprocal knowledge and understanding between groups
Members of various groups mush share equal status
The contact situation should lead people to do things together and should require inter-group cooperation to achieve a common goal
There should be institutional support – an authority and/or social climate that encourages group contact

59. Teaching in Diverse Situations..
Teaching students from culturally diverse backgrounds requires a restructuring of teaching attitudes, approaches, and strategies

60. Effective teachers in culturally diverse situations…
Have a clear sense of their own ethnic and cultural identities
Look at cultural differences among students as cultural assets
Communicate high expectations for the success of all students and a belief that all students can succeed
Are personally committed to achieving equality for all students and believe they are capable of making a difference in their students’ learning
Develop a bond with their students and cease seeing their students as “the other”

61. Effective Teachers Con.t…
Provide an academically challenging curriculum that includes attention to the development of higher level cognitive skills
Add meaning to instruction in an interactive and collaborative environment
Include contributions and perspectives of the various ethno-cultural groups that compose our society, by using a multicultural curriculum
Encourage community members and parents to become involved in students’ education and give them a significant voice in making important school decisions related to school programs
Use culturally congruent teaching methods

62. Multiculturalism
A multicultural curriculum is designed to promote and value the diversity of all cultures in our country, while helping students to see the commonalities among all groups

63. In a positive multicultural environment…
Teachers expect all students to achieve, regardless of race, sex, class, or ethnicity
The learning environment encourages positive contact between all students
Instructional materials are reviewed for bias
The curriculum includes the historical experiences of all cultures

64. Positive Multicultural Environment con’t…
Efforts are made to develop an understanding of, and appreciation and respect for, all cultures
Goals and strategies reflect cultural learning styles of all students
Time is spent dispelling misconceptions, stereotypes, and prejudices
Bulletin boards and classroom exhibits display people of many backgrounds

65. Goals for multicultural education should provide for…
The development of historical perspectives and cultural consciousness
The development of intercultural competence
The reduction of racism and ethnic prejudice and discrimination
The development of social action skills

66. Increasing Student Self-Esteem
Because culturally diverse students and students from lower socioeconomic levels often feel less valued, it is important to find ways to increase their self esteem
Check your perception of students
Encourage students to take a more challenging educational path
Watch the language you use
Learn about the culture of your students
Let students know that effort is valued
Provide opportunities for students to discuss their concerns regarding prejudice, discrimination, and other kinds of social injustices
Look to the community and family for students’ role models and mentors

67. Culturally Relevant Teaching
Culturally relevant teaching refers to methods of teaching that empower students to grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally by using cultural referents in teaching knowledge and skills

68. Stimulating Classroom and Flexible Learners
The following strategies can help to make the classroom more stimulating and students more flexible learners:
Take cultural characteristics into consideration when beginning instruction and selecting instructional strategies
Check students’ prior knowledge
Relate content to students’ lives
Provide kinesthetic activities (physical games); visual images (photos); auditory experiences (music); and interactive (group discussion) and haptic strategies (painting, drawing)
Provide field trips and other background-enriching activities

69. Stimulating Classroom and Flexible Learners Con.t
Engage students in meaningful real-world tasks
Use cooperative learning strategies
Be flexible in grouping students
Teach students test-taking skills
Assess students through multiple measures

70. Reducing Bias Bias must be removed from materials used in teaching
Materials that are biased ignore the existence and often demean the personal characteristics of some students

71. Five Approaches for Restructuring Curriculum
There are five approaches for restructuring curriculum to incorporate both cultural diversity and a focus on caring relationships:
Include themes in your curriculum that focus on language, culture, power, and compassion
Use a comparative orientation of study presenting diverse perspectives on the issue, theme, event, or concept
Employ an issues-centered orientation
Restructure existing units by using a culture/caring/justice filter
Teach by example

72. Culturally Diverse Students
Some culturally diverse students whose family traditions and customs are quite different from those associated with the majority culture may also be impacted by limited proficiency in English
Bilingual students will benefit from good teaching and planning, as well as from many of the activities suggested for culturally diverse students

73. Helpful Ideas for Teachers
Review students’ files extensively
Make and maintain contact with parents
Learn as much as you can about the cultures of students in your class
Consider a buddy system or cross-grade tutoring
Be cautious about cooperative learning in the beginning, particularly structures in which groups compete with one another
Present as much material visually as possible
Whenever possible, share information and positive role models from diverse cultures, with emphasis on those cultures represented in your room
Be patient

74. Reflection Activity

75. Section 10.5: Teaching Students in Urban Schools and Other Settings
It is in urban schools that the racial, cultural, and social contradictions between the teachers and students often create barriers that significantly endanger learning

76. Teachers in Urban Schools
Teachers employed in the future are likely to be teaching children of color, from African American and Latino cultures, but also children from families who recently emigrated from one of the many Asian or Middle Eastern countries
It is a good bet that the urban school districts will be large, under-funded, and bureaucratic
Too many students in urban classrooms come from families facing unemployment, financial problems, and health emergencies

77. Effective Teachers in Inner-City Schools
In a recent study looking at high-achieving culturally diverse inner-city students and teachers, students were able to identify what they believed were characteristics of effective teachers
Culturally competent
Hold high expectations of all students
Use differentiation
Use role models and mentors
Provide a disciplined environment
Involve family and community

78. PREMIER
In a recent study, researchers developed a model for teaching success in urban schools represented by the mnemonic PREMIER
are Purposeful
are Respectful of Diversity
employ Experience-Based Methods and Activities
Manage the Urban Classroom Effectively
Individualize Instruction
are Excellent Communicators
are Reflective in Thought

79. Parental Involvement
Research studies over a 30-year period have demonstrated the positive results on school performance from school/home partnerships
When parents are involved with a school, their children perform better in that school

80. Home/School Involvement
The National PTA describes 6 types of home/school involvement, which include:
Frequent and predictable two-way communication between home and school
Enhancing parenting skills and capabilities
Assisting and enhancing student learning
Encouraging parents to engage in volunteering activities in school
Participating in school decision-making and advocacy
Enabling parents and schools to create additional partnerships for collaborating with the community

81. Home and School Partnerships
In addition to a solid academic program and a partnership between home and school, an integrated services school provides “basic health and counseling services for students, referrals for families, and a new calendar and clock, with after-school and summer enrichment programs for learning and creative play”
In some areas, schools’ educational personnel have systematic communication with a variety of agencies, allowing for quick and convenient referrals and consultation
In full-service schools, the school itself become the hub for services.

82. The End!