Word on the Beat No. 3: Differentiated Instruction
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Each week, The Educated Reporter will feature a buzzword or phrase that You Need To Know (yes, this designation is highly subjective but we're giving it a shot). Send your Word on the Beat suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org.
Word on the Beat: Differentiated instruction.
What it means: Differentiated instruction is when a teacher adjusts the content, instructional process, and even the physical environment of a classroom to respond to variances among student learners. In some cases that can mean using separate vocabulary or spelling lists matched to each student’s degree of readiness, re-teaching skills to remedial students in small groups, or providing opportunities for more advanced students to delve deeper into a topic when the fundamentals have been mastered.
Differentiated instruction has become a popular catchphrase, but definitions – and applications – can vary widely at the state, district, campus and classroom level. That’s made it difficult for researchers to compare approaches and identify best practices.
Carol Ann Tomlinson, a professor at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, has been called the