The following definitions provide varying viewpoints about differentiation as defined by various authors in educational settings.
According to Pettig (2000) Differentiation has multiple faces depending on the teachers and students involved, the outcomes of learners, and the structure of the classroom environment (p. 14).
Dinnocenti sites Riley who stated that in providing differentiated instruction, different methods of evaluation should include rubrics, portfolios, and checklists based on the products created (Dinnocenti, 2000, Differentiation Defined section, para. 2)
Traditionally three aspects of differentiated instruction are addressed content, process, and product. Dinnocenti sites Renzulli's Five Dimensions of Differentiation which include goals related to the five dimensions as defined for gifted and talented students. "These five dimensions are content, process, product, and teacher.
content - put more depth into the curriculum through organizing the curriculum concepts and structure of knowledge;
process - use many instructional techniques and materials to enhance and motivate learning styles of students;
product - improve the cognitive development and the students' ability to express themselves;
classroom- enhance the comfort by changing grouping formats and physical area of environment;
teacher- use artistic modification to share personal knowledge of topics related to curriculum as well as personal interests, collections, hobbies, and enthusiasm about issues surrounding content area." (Dinnocenti, 2002, Definition Defined section, para. 3)
Differentiation is...
"...a way to get students to "wrestle with profound ideas, call on students to use what they learn in important ways, helps students organize and make sense of ideas and information, and aids students in connecting the classroom with the wider world."
-Carol Ann Tomlinson
"...changing the pace, level or kind of instruction in response to learners needs, styles, and/or interests."
-Diane Heacox
"A differentiated classroom offers a variety of learning options designed to tap into different readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles. In a differentiated class, the teacher uses (1) a variety of ways for students to explore curriculum content, (2) a variety of sense-making activities or processes through which students can come to understand and "own" information and ideas, and (3) a variety of options through which students can demonstrate or exhibit what they have learned" (Tomlinson, 1995, What Differentiation Is--And Is Not section, para. 1).
"Brain research suggests three broad and interrelated principles that point clearly to the need for differentiated instruction, that is, classrooms responsive to students' varying readiness levels, varying interests, and varying learning profiles." (Kalbfleish, M.Layne and Carol Ann Tomlinson. Teach me, teach my brain: a call for differentiated classrooms, Educational Leadership, November 1998, pp. 52-55).
"What we share in common makes us human. How we differ makes us individuals. In a classroom with little or no differentiated instruction, only student similarities seem to take center stage. In a differentiated classroom, commonalties are acknowledged and built upon, and student differences become important elements in teaching and learning as well....students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products." (Tomlinson, Carol Ann. How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1995.)
Created by: Students at the University of Maine at Farmington Carolyn Shorey:carolynshorey@hotmail.com Sarah Olmsted:omisj@hotmail.com
Becky Waugh:waughb42@aol.com
Eric Feeney:efeene@hotmail.com