Differentiating student work should always be considered since students learning styles are all different.  As a result, students benefit from multiple ways of academic instruction.  The “one size fits all,” model is not a true indicator of student learning, rather an assessment of how well students learned the information in the way it was presented. Sometimes only small adaptations may be needed.  Other times, it could include a different text, handout, or graphic organizer.   As a Special Education Teacher, I am constantly differentiating work to fit my students individual needs.   When the curriculum is given in a manner that is closely tied to how students learn, they will acquire and retain that information easier, leading to higher results on assessments, given the assessment is also adapted to suit their learning needs.  

Differentiated techniques also lead to increased student involvement.   The article discusses how learning centers can be used to assess each student's ability, allowing for you to make grouping according to learning style and level.  At times, I feel educators are reluctant to having independent group work for fear of losing control of their class.  What I have found is that if you give your students clear, precise directions and everything that they need, they will complete the activity.  Although it may not be as quiet as you would like, the work gets done and the students are discussing the information with each other.  

Progress monitoring is a great way to gather what students are learning.  Sears discusses that in order for a student to be successful, you must first find out what they know.  In order for the student to learn the content, it is important they you review any academic language needed ahead of time.  It is also important to continually monitor progress as to adjust the flow of content taught as well as if it needs to be retaught and how.  

Teachers are required to cover the curriculum, regardless of

student learning.

Our assignment calls for an explanation of why these fallacies are fallacies.  But, shamefully, it seems Fallacy 2 is borderline fact in my school.  When school started, there was so much emphasis on deep thinking, decision questions, and discussion.  Then I, a brand new teacher, was given a class of special education students who clearly needed much more background review than I thought they would. I spent some time trying to gauge who knew what so I could continue with the curriculum  but was told to move on...

"Even when students would be more successful with

grade-level content if they received instruction on back-

ground knowledge, skills and strategies for the curriculum,

there is an impetus to begin at the curriculum’s starting

point and move at the same pace through the curriculum in

preparation for large-scale assessments" (Page 59). This quote sounds like it came from a fly on the wall in New Explorers High School.  Even if I prepare my students to pass a state exam or Regents, how much of it will they retain if they do not have the missing fundamentals?  In a school where there is so much pressure to crank out "passing" grades, state assessments are often the bread and butter for keeping the doors of a renewal school ajar.  Thankfully, I work with a few teachers who understand Fallacy 2 but focus on the students' understanding of the content. 

"...Monitoring progress during

instruction provides information on how quickly students

are acquiring skills so that they can move on to more

complex skills at an appropriate pace (National Association

of School Psychologists, 2003)" (Page 60).  At least we are advised to have several checkpoints throughout the lesson to ensure the students are understanding the concepts.  How could we bulldoze through a lengthy curriculum without making sure the previous topic has taken root?  Particularly in math, certain definitions or formulas must be understood for application in future topics. If you're not sure what a variable is, how can I tell you to solve for the variable in a given equation?  Does my student know what an equation is yet or do I need to explain that they've seen it before with the "=" symbol? 

One challenge that I am having is following a curriculum that both ensures student understanding and pleases the masses with Regents prep. However, in October, we were presented with a requirement for a pre-assessment to be followed by mid-year and end-of-year assessments; the MOSL.  "...It

would be more revealing for students to complete a pre-test

of a large-scale assessment so that teachers could design

year-long instruction according to diagnostic and useful

information" (Page 60).  Although these tests seem controversial, they could be useful for lesson prep - if administered at the beginning of the school year.  If we could see which areas need more review or which areas we could skip, much valuable time could be used on targeting the tougher topics.