Giving Compass' Take:

• The author speaks about how differentiating learning by meeting students at their comprehension level can help tremendously with learning growth. He then lists the key components of K-12 differentiating that he believes are successful. 

• What tools or training do educators need to make differentiated learning successful?

• Read about how technology can help teachers differentiate. 

I’ve spent 16 years serving on and chairing the board of the National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) and 25 years leading companies that serve schools and students of all kinds. Throughout, I’ve often found myself thinking about students like the one who ended up in juvenile detention by ninth grade.

I pay close attention to classroom solutions that can meet these students exactly where they are. I know that it’s crucial that we strive to connect all students to learning regardless of their needs or levels of readiness. Connecting this way requires teachers to differentiate instruction—recognizing their students’ individuality and then planning learning experiences with the range of student needs, interests, styles, and preferences in mind.

Given my history with the NDPC, it’s important for me to know that the organization I lead helps students who are struggling make that shift. Hearing teachers’ stories and examining the evidence, I’m fully confident that our organization does just that.

Here’s what we’ve identified as the key components for a precision differentiation approach in K-12 schools, several of which are touched upon in the chart below.

  • A technology-driven methodology that uses baseline and ongoing embedded assessment to match and re-level students to their “just-right” level of text complexity, “just-on-time” through the school year.
  • Thousands of high-interest informational texts, each differentiated at twelve Lexile levels in English and eight in Spanish, plus learning and language scaffolds for intervention, enrichment, and ELL students—together creating equitable access to content and driving classroom collaboration.
  • Flexible models of literacy instruction that teachers can adapt based on their site’s goals and availability of tech.
  • Research-defined targets for quantity and quality of use to optimize acceleration.
  • Customizable delivery options to meet school- and district-specific requirements for success.

Read the full article about differentiating by Stuart Udell at EdSurge