Differing Outcomes
Generally, if a student masters 80% of the content on a formative assessment, he/she does not need additional lower level or higher level differentiation, and can continue in the 'mainstream' content. If a student scores lower than that, lower level differentiation can occur, while higher-level differentiation can occur for those students who scored above a 95% on the given assessment.
For students who did not reach mastery of the objectives, additional reinforcements are needed. Each lesson or unit will have specific assignments designed to add differentiation for the students who need it. Sometimes, this may be done in centers, where the students who need lower level, high level, or mid level differentiation will be working on slightly different assignments. Other times, this may be done as a take-home assignment or an individualized in-class assignment. The method of delivery of differentiation will depend on the specific content that is being assessed.
Examples of differentiation
Content being taught/assessed: Long division
Method of differentiation: Individual student worksheets
Method of differentiation: Individual student worksheets
Lower level
Worksheets include long division problems in which there are seldom remainders, and some problems are partially filled in and completed for students to offer additional guidance. |
Higher level
Every problem on the worksheet had a remainder which needs to be converted into a decimal, and there is one example on the worksheet for the students to follow. |
Mid level
Worksheets include long division problems in which there are occasionally remainders, and there is one example of each type of a long division problem on the worksheet for the students to follow. |