Chapter 10 Differentiation and Diversity

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Chapter 10Differentiation and Diversity

• Rebecca Wendt and Jennifer Fields

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Section 10.1Differentiated Instruction

• Definition instruction that is designed to flex
  to meet the varying needs of students within a
  class

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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• The key to successful planning for elementary
  classes is to remember that classes never learn
  anythingonly individual children learn, one at a
  time.

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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 students experience over a period
  of a day or week

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

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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

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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
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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
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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

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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 childs 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

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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

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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

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Did you know

• It is likely that teachers will have one or more
  students with disabilities in the classroom?

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I.E.P (Individualized Education Plan)

• Each student will require an IEP, which must
  include the following
• A statement of the childs 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 students
  teacher and the students parents or guardians,
  and approved by the school administrator

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Inclusion

• Inclusion when students with disabilities spend
  all or part of the day in regular classrooms

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 students
  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

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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

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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

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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 individuals total
  intellectual or academic potential or identify
  giftedness

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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
  environmentin intellectual, creative, and/or
  artistic areasleadership capacityor 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

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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

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Schoolhouse Giftedness and Creative Productivity

• Schoolhouse giftedness the ability to consume,
  analyze, and reproduce information
• Creative productivity the ability to generate
  new information

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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

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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

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Features may also be hidden

• Cultural differences and various types of
  disabilities may obscure teachers understanding
  of students abilities

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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

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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 teachers 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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• 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!

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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Student Behavior

• Students tend to behave as teachers expect them
  to behave
• The view of a students expected performance is
  communicated to the student by verbal and
  nonverbal behaviors

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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

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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)

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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

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Teaching in Diverse Situations..

• Teaching students from culturally diverse
  backgrounds requires a restructuring of teaching
  attitudes, approaches, and strategies

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Positive Multicultural Environment cont

• 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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• Reflection Activity

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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• The End!