Differentiating Instruction in the Secondary Classroom

1. Differentiating Instruction in the Secondary Classroom August 1, 2007 Nate Frank, Presenter

2. Relative Nature of Teaching • “The crisis in American public education today, according to Tony Wagner, is that nobody agrees on what constitutes effective education. Teachers are sent to professional development seminars that discuss theories, he said, but they are not frequently evaluated, videotaped and given constant feedback on their performance in the classroom.” ~ Quoted from E. Richards’ blog 7/21/07

3. Objectives • Teachers will generate new ideas for the presentation and delivery of curriculum • Teachers will reflect on the philosophy and components of a differentiated classroom. • Teachers will create documents or lesson plans to be used in the classroom.

4. Philosophy of Differentiation

5. What is the Purpose for Learning… • Reading / Writing: • Arithmetic: • Social Studies: • Science: • Foreign Language: • Fam. & Cons. Science: • Health:

6. Purpose of Education • Massachusetts (Colony) Laws and Statutes, ch. 88, (1647) “Old Deluder Satan Act” • Sec. 1. It being one chief project of Satan to keep men from the knowledge of the scripture…It is therefore ordered by this court and authority thereof, that every township within this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towns to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read... • Virginia – Jefferson’s “Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge” (1788) • “to diffuse knowledge more generally through the mass of the people. This bill proposes to lay off every country into small districts…to establish a school for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic…to chuse the boy of best genius in the school…to send him forward to one of the grammar schools…by this means twenty of the best geniuses will be raked from the rubbish annually

7. Purpose of Education • Chief Justice Warren – Brown v. Board of Education, (1954) • “Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

8. No Child Left Behind? • Forcing schools to focus on every student? • Punishing schools for not addressing needs of disadvantaged / disabled students? http://euroross.blogspot.com/Confused%20Bush.jpg

9. Homogenous Grouping / Ability Grouping / Tracking Hobson v. Hansen, 269 F. Supp. 401 (1967). • Ability grouping is a denial of the fifth amendment’s equal educational opportunity to the poor and a majority of Negroes attending school in the nation’s capital • Superintendent admitted tracking discriminated against poor; court also found it clearly discriminated against Black students. • Teachers in the lowest track had the least experience • Class grades and standardized tests determine placement, both of which are heavily and unfairly weighted against the disadvantaged child. • Tracks are supposed to be temporary • There is not enough testing to provide frequent data on progress of the students in the lower tracks • Equal protection clause does not guarantee that all students will be treated exactly the same in schools, but it’s clear that the lowest tracks are preparing students for lower, vocational jobs, while the higher tracks were preparing students for college and higher jobs, which put the poor and the Negro students predominantly dominating those lower levelas at a great disadvantage. • “the track system simply must be abolished.” Wright, Circuit Judge

10. The Beaten Path • Does our instruction force every single child in the class to follow the same path to learning? • Ex. Math - #’s 2-36 even English - Book report with picture, summary, review Foreign Language – Make a menu with food words Social Studies – Create a coat of arms for your family Science – Watershed poster – Draw a sun, a lake, etc. Health – Group research report on nutrition • Are we wasting students’ time?

11. “I took the road less traveled… • Multiple avenues to learning • Chances to demonstrate proficiency on standard at a later time • Catering content to struggling students based on interest, readiness, or learning style • Compacting the curriculum to ensure that all students reach the grade level standard …and that has made all the difference.” ~ Frost

12. No Wonder We Need to Differentiate in our Schools: In the world beyond school, we don’t have to be good at everything. We have specific skills that match the needs of a specific job, and we have plenty of adult experience and maturity. As children in school, however, we have to be good at everything regardless of our skill set or background, and we have little experience or maturity.

13. Compacting and Differentiating • The Normal Distribution – “Bell Shaped Curve” • classes.kumc.edu/.../images/bell_curve.gif • Both Ends – Equally “unaverage”

14. Motivation and the Normal Distribution • “Lazy” is a word often used to describe students from both ends of the spectrum • For gifted students, “laziness” can be a mechanism to hide their fear of failure • For learning support students, “laziness” may have resulted from a demoralizing system. i.e. – praise for success? when failure is accepted by teachers (in order to teach a lesson), kids learn that not completing work is easier than the embarrassment of failure. • The only way teachers can deal with these extremes is to differentiate. • Gifted: once proficiency is demonstrated on a pre-test, the student shouldn’t have to do it again; therefore, they need to “buy back” the time budgeted for them by completing an enrichment activity on their own. Expand Curriculum - 3 Rules: Don’t bother anyone, Don’t call attention to yourself, Work on Something at all times. • Learning Support: pre-test will determine what skills need the most practice. Compact curriculum to focus on vital standards.

15. Basics of Differentiation • Teachers can differentiate the content that is taught, the process that is used to teach the content, and the product that the students are to create. • Teachers can differentiate based on student readiness, interest, and learning style.

16. 3 Keys to Effective Differentiation Planning is Paramount! • Provide a road map for your students at beginning of the year Ex. 1 Curriculum Map Ex. 2 Course Framework • 2. Compact curriculum to Essential Understandings Sell Philosophy – Rigorous Engagement • Anchor Activities • “Guide on the Side” not “Sage on the Stage” • Know and care for your students – Talk to them Assess Continuously • Pre, Formative, and Summative Assessments • Be Flexible

17. Differentiated Assessment Define Each Grade A: B: C: D: F:

18. Why Do We Grade? • Provide feedback • Document progress • Guide instructional decisions --------------------------------------------- • Motivate • Punish • Sort students * Rick Wormeli Slide

19. Criterion-Referenced vs. Norm-Referenced Criterion-Referenced: Using standards, objectives, or benchmarks as the reference points for determining students’ achievement Norm-Referenced: Using other students’ performances as the reference point for determining students’ achievement

20. Pre-Assessments Used to indicate students’ readiness for content and skill development. Used to guide instructional decisions.

21. Formative Assessments These are in-route checkpoints, frequently done. They provide ongoing and clear feedback to students and the teacher, informing instruction and reflecting subsets of the essential and enduring knowledge. They are where successful differentiating teachers spend most of their energy – assessing formatively and providing timely feedback to students and practice.

22. Summative Assessments These are given to students at the end of the learning to document growth and mastery. They match the learning objectives and experiences, and they are negotiable if the product is not the literal standard. They reflect most, if not all, of the essential and enduring knowledge. They are not very helpful forms of feedback.

23. Be clear: We grade against standards, not routes students take or techniques teachers use to achieve those standards. What does this mean we should do with class participation, homework, attendance, effort, behavior, or discussion grades? * Rick Wormeli Slide

24. 10 Practices to Avoid in a Differentiated Classroom[They Dilute a Grade’s Validity and Effectiveness] 1. Penalizing students’ multiple attempts at mastery 2. Grading practice (daily homework) as students come to know concepts [Feedback, not grading, is needed] 3. Withholding assistance (not scaffolding or differentiating) in the learning when it’s needed 4. Group grades 5. Incorporating non-academic factors (behavior, attendance, and effort) 6. Assessing students in ways that do not accurately indicate students’ mastery (student responses are hindered by the assessment format) 7. Grading on a curve 8. Allowing Extra Credit 9. Defining supposedly criterion-based grades in terms of norm-referenced descriptions (“above average,” “average”, etc.) 10. Recording zeroes for work not done * Rick Wormeli Slide

25. 0 to 60? 100-pt. Scale: 0, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 -- 83% (C+) 60, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 -- 93% (B+) 4-pt. Scale: 0, 4,4,4,4,4 -- 83% (C+) 1, 4,4,4,4,4 -- 88% (B) When working with students, do we choose the most hurtful, unrecoverable end of the “F” range, or the most constructive, recoverable end of the “F” range? * Rick Wormeli Slide

26. Be clear: Students are not getting points for having done nothing. The student still gets an F. We’re simply equalizing the influence of the each grade in the overall grade and responding in a way that leads to learning. * Rick Wormeli Slide

27. Imagine the Reverse… What if we reversed the proportional influences of the grades? That “A” would have a huge, yet undue, inflationary effect on the overall grade. Just as we wouldn’t want an “A” to have an inaccurate effect, we don’t want an “F” grade to have such an undue, deflationary, and inaccurate effect. Keeping zeroes on a 100-pt. scale is just as absurd as the scale seen here. A = 100 – 40 B = 39 – 30 C = 29 – 20 D = 19 – 10 F = 9 – 0 * Rick Wormeli Slide

28. Consider the Correlation A (0) on a 100-pt. scale is a (-6) on a 4-pt. scale. If a student does no work, he should get nothing, not something worse than nothing. How instructive is it to tell a student that he earned six times less than absolute failure? Choose to be instructive, not punitive. [Based on an idea by Doug Reeves, The Learning Leader, ASCD, 2006] 100 90 80 70 60 4 3 2 1 0 50 40 30 20 10 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 * Rick Wormeli Slide

29. Temperature Readings for Norfolk, VA: 85, 87, 88, 84, 0 (‘Forgot to take the reading) Average: 68.8 degrees This is inaccurate for what really happened, and therefore, unusable. * Rick Wormeli Slide

30. Clarification: When we’re talking about converting zeroes to 50’s or higher, we’re referring to zeroes earned on major projects and assessments, nothomework, as well as anything graded on a 100-point scale. It’s okay to give zeroes on homework or on small scales, such as a 4.0 scale. Zeroes recorded for homework assignments do not refer to final, accurate declarations of mastery, and those zeroes don’t have the undue influence on small grading scales. * Rick Wormeli Slide

31. What Makes a Teacher “Good”? • A Student Opinion - Excerpt from Mike Roberts’ graduation speech: “Just what is it that sets these educators apart from the rest? Sometimes it is as simple as demonstrating confidence in a student, inspiring and pushing that student to his or her highest potential. It can be a willingness to invest extra time during or after school, above and beyond the call of duty, to make a difference to the students. Some great educators dare to treat their students as peers and equals, rather than as inferiors, thereby breaking down barriers in the classroom, making a lecture more like a discussion among friends. Some teachers have the ability to multiply their passion for a subject and spread it infectiously through a classroom. The seasoned teacher, with extensive life experiences, can offer practical lessons gathered together through years of opportunities. One mark of a truly masterful teacher is his ability to enhance the classroom experience by learning from his students. It takes great courage to stand in the authoritative position of a teacher and admit that you do not know the answer to a student’s question. When this happens, and a student then finds the answer on his own, and instructs the instructor, that is when real learning has happened. Integrity, wittiness, dedication, theatrical presentation, and countless other qualities play a key role in creating the kind of special teacher I am trying to describe, the kind all of you surely know.”