DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN MATH

ESSENTIAL QUESTION-can differentiated instruction be applied to tracked math

classes?

I. What is differentiated instruction?

It is a theory that allows teachers to take diverse student factors into account when
planning and teaching. It addresses different learning styles, interests, and abilities
within one class. Instruction may be differentiated in content, method, or product
according to the students readiness, interest, learning styles, and ability. It allows
for flexible use of time, space, and student groups. Within groups, students should
speak softly, and address any questions to fellow group members before asking the
teacher.

II. Teachers:

a) provide several learning options, or different paths
b) use a variety of teaching methods
c) break assignments into smaller parts
d) provide access to a variety of materials
e) offer a choice of projects by which students can do independent work
f) assess students individually (to some extent) even though they learn in a
group

III. Tiered lesson:

a) a lesson that uses the strategy that addresses a particular standard or
concept, but allows several pathways for students to arrive at an
understanding of these standards or concepts.
b) the number of groups per tier, and the size of each group, varies
c) groups are flexible-changes can be made within a unit, or after a unit is
completed
d) content and/or method and/or product can be tiered
e) no group gets busy work


IV. Teachers:

a) instruct students to share and discuss their answers within their group
b) can readily call on non-volunteers after the groups have shared and
discussed their answers
c) can send students to the board to put up their answers after their group has
shared and discussed them
d) can give a pre-test in order to set up the groups
e) should keep a file (folder) for each student
f) should group ESL students (if any) with students who know a little of their
native language (if possible)
g) should find projects that challenge gifted students
h) may, or may not, want to give different tests
i) should try this first with a short unit, then teach the next unit in the
normal way, in order to decide how to proceed


V. Observations

I wanted to do a bunch of observations of teachers doing differentiated
instruction to see what, if anything, could be incorporated into math classes that are
already tracked. However, only two teachers replied that they were doing
differentiated instruction and were willing to be observed, so I did only a couple of
observations. I observed the following:

1. in art:
a) the class was given general directions and illustrations
b) the students each used different props
c) the students had individual goals
d) there were different expectations for each student
e) sometimes rules were changed when a student had difficulty either
getting started or proceeding from a certain point
f) one or two students were doing the projects in a different order

2. in English:
a) some groups concentrated on answering one question; others answered
more than one
b) differentiation is done approximately 3 days per week, sometimes for
only part of the period
c) the groups were all pairs. They worked on the same document
individually, and then combined their work
d) sometimes the pairs work on their own made up documents to answer
questions from the assignment
e) the teacher circulates and asks key questions to draw out information

VI. Conclusions

This was interesting, but I could not find anything that could be used in
tracked math classes. In the tracked classes, the differentiating was already
done at the end of the previous school year. Also, in math, the students
must learn a specific syllabus to be prepared for the next course (or pos-
sibly for a Regents exam or an AP exam). The only thing I do relating to dif-
ferentiating is in assigning a bunch of extras credit problems. In a set of 15
problems, they are grouped in a way that a segment of the class will be able
to solve about 5 of the problems, a segment of the class will be able to solve
9 or 10 of the problems, and a segment of the class will be able to solve
more than 10 of the problems.


ABSTRACT

I wanted to find out about possibly using differentiated instruction in (higher level)
tracked math classes. I picked rounds, but I could not find many opportunities to
observe differentiated instruction in action. So I supplemented my observations
with some research and talking to teachers (and former teachers) at other schools.
My conclusion is that there is no way to use differentiated instruction in the classes I
teach.