Differentiated learning

Know your students and how they learn

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Teachers need to know more than just the academic performance of their students in order to effectively differentiate. According to Tomlinson (2004):

To teach most effectively, teachers must take into account who they are teaching as well as what they are teaching. The goal of the differentiated classroom is to plan actively and consistently to help each learner move as far and as fast as possible along a learning continuum.

Consider the following descriptors from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers¹, Standard 1 Know students and how they learn at Proficient level.

• Use teaching strategies based on knowledge of students’ physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics to improve student learning (1.1.2)

• Design and implement teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds (1.3.2)

• Design and implement effective teaching strategies that are responsive to the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (1.4.2)

• Develop teaching activities that incorporate differentiated strategies to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities (1.5.2)

• Design and implement teaching activities that support the participation and learning of students with disability and address relevant policy and legislative requirements (1.6.2).

Using data to inform teaching and learning

The information and data we gather about our students must relate to what teachers are teaching and students are learning. If we wish to enhance teaching and learning the location of ‘evidence’ starts in the classroom. According to Masters (2013):

Once it is recognised that the fundamental purpose of assessment is to establish where students are in their learning (that is, what they know, understand and can do), many traditional assessment distinctions become unnecessary and unhelpful.

Judgements about where students are in their learning can be made a number of ways for different purposes. These include:

• assessment of, for and as learning – see Aspects of Assessment² from the Strong Start, Great Teachers³ website

• employing norm-, standards-, criterion- and self-referenced methods.

Student learning profile

Carol Ann Tomlinson suggests there are four key aspects of a student’s learning profile that teachers must address to ensure effective and efficient learning.

The purpose of ascertaining readiness is to understand the entry points of students into the content. Students may enter the learning above, below or at stage level. Their strengths and needs, connections with prior knowledge, social and cultural background knowledge and the classroom context all need to be considered.

Watch this video of Tomlinson discussing Readiness on Differentiated Instructions.

The readiness of students

Data conversations

Schools accumulate large amounts of data unique to each student. Key people, groups and teams are responsible for gathering and managing this data. Teachers need to know what data is available and how to transform it into information which is useful for engaging in data conversations to inform educational practice.

Interrogating school data

Data can be used by teachers to inform planning and improve the educational outcomes of all students.

The following expandables demonstrate ways to interrogate and manage data to better understand your students’ needs:

Primary context

Secondary context

Collect and manage student data