Integrating: Differentiated

Instruction and
Understanding by Design.
Carol Tomlinson and Jay McTighe

Reviewed by L Jones

My quick overview

What happens when you meet the alternate

learner ?

What
is
the
difference?
What is
What is
Understanding
by Design?

Differentiated
Instruction?

Essentially it is a way of thinking

Essentially it is a curriculum design model

Focuses on the what and how or the

content of learning - skills and knowledge as
well as the method of instruction or
assessment

Focuses on who we are teaching,

where we are teaching this and

how we engage students to
ensure efffective learning for varied
students
It is not individualization of learning

Why is this important?

The goal of quality curriculum design is to

develop and deepen student understanding.

The vehicle that delivers this to students with
varied abilities, experiences, opportunities,
language, interests and adult support is
differentiated instruction.
All learners benefit from clarity in the purpose
and priority of content selected
Struggling learners require focus on essential
knowledge, understandings and skills
Advanced learners need and deserve challenge
to constantly move their learning forward

How is this achieved?

Teachers need to determine each students entry

point to the learning, determine their next steps

and remediate gaps to ensure success for learners
Therefore planning needs to be constantly
reviewed to ensure it is meeting all learners
needs, providing the key knowledge and skills
while extending or deepening the learning for
others, at a pace that is reflects individual groups
of learners
Each year students remind teachers that the learning journey is a
shared journey and the best laid plans of teachers are only that
plans!

What it incorporates is
Ensures students needs are met struggling

learners focus on essential learning while

advanced learners are provided with
challenge
Provides choice in learning styles, focuses on
essential skills and knowledge first,
determines prior knowledge of students and
teaches from their current level of
understanding, identifies and shares with
learners next steps in learning
Multi-sensory teaching and uses the multiple
intelligences and strengths of the students
Flexible and uses multiple styles of groupings

What teachers behave like

Engage in collaborative discussions around what works

and what doesnt , moderate outcomes and standards

Understand what constitutes evidence of learning
Know what are the essential understandings and
knowledge needed
Actively see themselves as participants in new learning
and as learners
Competent users of technology that supports and
illustrates learning, as a teaching tool
Reflective practitioners constantly reviewing their next
learning steps
Responsive teachers thinking about the barriers to
student learning and the needs of their students and
implementing change to address these needs

Reasons to be a responsive teacher

Attending to the relationship with students allows for

risk taking and provides motivation for students to learn

Attending to the environment. provides a climate
for learning to happen. Classrooms seen as a welcoming
and emotionally safe place to test risk taking for success
and navigate failure promote learning
Attending to student backgrounds and needs builds
bridges that connect learners and learning
Attending to student readiness for learning allows
for academic growth
Attending to student interest engages student
motivation
Attending to student learning styles and barriers to
learning enables efficiency of learning
Cultivate a taste for diversity broadens horizons for
learners and leads to student engagement

10 top teacher tips for

success?
Find ways to get to know your learners intentionally and

regularly
Incorporate small group teaching into daily and weekly
teaching
Learn to teach the high end
Offer more ways to explore and express learning
Regularly use informal assessment to monitor student
understanding
Teach in multiple ways
Use basic reading strategies across the curriculumthinking
out loud
Allow children to work alone, with a partner or a small group
Incorporate learning purposes, success criteria and goal setting
into teaching programme
How do we stack up so far..

What really matters in

learning?
Standards vs knowledge and skills that are

truly essential and enduring.

Can standards and differentiation really coexist?
Standards are intended to focus on teaching
and learning, guide curriculum development
and design. They provide a basis for
accountability.
However standards have exacerbated the
problem
of the content of the curriculum and in
Have we narrowed the curriculum into teaching for the
NZ
have been
perceived
to have
narrowed
it to
standardised
test and
progress against
standards
or do we aspire
teach to the2014).
richness and diversity of NZC ? What evidence do we
(Thrupp
have to support our belief?

What are the big ideas and core

processes that need to be taught within
the content of the curriculum?
If we want children to explore the essential

questions and key ideas then we need to plan

for this to happen:
One way this can happen is by a process called
backward planning, which while it may be
challenging for us adjust to, looks at the big
ideas in the learning and sets out through key
questioning to allow teachers to provide choice
to learners, choice to teachers as well as
remediation and extension of learners

Backward planning
Stage 1: Identify the desired results. What do we want

the students to be able to understand, do or know?

Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence of learning.

How will we know whether the student has caught the

learning and achieved the desired result.
Stage 3: Planning learning experiences and activities.

What resources, learning experiences and sequences

are best suited to achieve our goal. Are they relevant
and efficient to the students learning?
How does this sit with differentiation?

What backward planning

avoids:
Activity based planning.lacks substance and

long term learning

Planning for coverage of content. too much
to cover well and not enough depth
Learning happens within students and not to them!

With results and evidence in mind, plan for purposeful learning

and directed teaching to help all students reach the desired
achievements and where the concerns for both content and kids
combine is a plan for responsive teaching.

Applying Differentiation to the

Understanding by Design Framework

Nine guiding attitudes and skills of

differentiated teaching:
Establish clarity around what the expected goal is.
Accept responsibility for all learners success
Develop a community of respect for all
Build awareness of what works for each student
Develop and establish classroom management and

routines that contribute to student success

Help students become effective partners in their own
learning success
Have flexible teaching routines
Expand their repertoire of instructional strategies
Reflect on individual progress against standards and
personal growth

Differentiated / Responsive
Teaching:
The basis of differentiated (or responsive) teaching stems

from our responses to three questions:

1. Do we have the will and skill to accept the
responsibility for the diverse learners we teach?
2. Do we share a vision of providing high quality to
help all learners to build their lives?
3. Are we willing to do the work of building bridges
of possibility between what we teach and the
diverse learners we teach?
That is the essence of expert teaching it dignifies our work and
our profession as well as dignifying the students we teach.

Assessment:
1. Summative: Culminating knowledge and

skills acquired after the teaching.

2. Formative: Guides teaching and learning
alongside instruction. Formulates next steps
for teaching and learning.
3. Diagnostic: Assesses prior knowledge, gaps
andd skill levels prior to instruction.
Effective assessment practise is the cornerstone of teaching
individuals for understanding. It also acts as a data source to
shape teaching in order to maximise the growth of the varied
learners we teach.

Responsive Assessment;

Assess before teaching

Offer appropriate choice in assessment tasks
Provide explicit feedback and feed forward,

early ad often against desired outcomes

Encourage self assessment and reflection for
studentsassessment honors students differences and promotes
Responsive
learning.

Effective assessment :
3 guiding principles
Reliable assessment demands multiple

sources of evidence photo album vs

snapshots
Multiple measures are essential because no
one test
can do it all Keon 1994
Variety in classroom assessment tasks are
necessary
not only form a measurement and coverage
perspective but also as a matter of
sensitivity to
varied learners

Effective assessment :
3 guiding principles
Match the measures with the goals:
For valid inferences to be drawn from results , an assessment task must provide
an appropriate measure of the given goal.
The 3 types of educational goals are:
Declarative knowledge:
What students should know and understand- Paper and pencil type assessment.
Procedural knowledge: What students should be able to do (performance based
assessment)
Dispositions: What attitudes or habits of mind should students demonstrate or
display? This demands assessment over time.

All tasks should be authentic, open-ended enough to

allow students to personalise their responses,
meaningful and, flexible enough to address the variety
in our learners

Effective assessment :
3 guiding principles
Form follows function:

The design and use of assessments should be

directly influenced by 4 questions:
1. What are we assessing?
2. Why are we assessing this?
3. Who are we assessing this for?
4. How will the results be used?

Responsive teaching in
academically diverse classrooms.
This chapter covers how teachers use and apply strategies that will
guide their practise when planning for, implementing and delivering a
differentiated curriculum.
Core beliefs:

All students should have access to a high quality, meaning

focussed curriculum.
Students need to learn the basics and the opportunity to apply
these in meaningful ways.
Balance is needed between student construction of meaning
and teacher guidance. Support to construct meaning may be
needed.
Students need to know the learning intentions and success
criteria for successfully achieving / demonstrating their
proficiency towards them.

Responsive teaching in
multileveled classrooms.
Planning for Instruction in a Differentiated

Classroom
Use classroom elements flexibly as tools for instruction- time, spaces,
resources, groupings, strategies and partnerships.
Clustering learning needs for efficiency- What barriers to learning and
how can I use their strengths, interests and talents to motivate the
learning? Using clustering of learner needs helps teachers apply
strategies that support more students and helps them to provide
authentic contexts from learning or providing opportunities for them
to grow.
Management of learners: FAQ and suggestions about how to manage
learners in order to provide the best outcomes for learners, efficiently.
Careful planning and use of classroom elements

What impact will it have on my learners?

Monitored progress and achievement

Positive relationships with teacher
Engagement in learning and an understanding

of the purpose of learning

Understanding of what they are learning and
why
Co construction of success criteria
understanding of what it takes to be
successful
Clarity in their next steps and how to achieve
these
Feeling like they belong and are part of their

What impact has this reading made

on my teaching?
Reaffirming what I knew about best teaching practice

regarding differentiating the curriculum to allow access to

learning for all learners.
Reaffirming the need to pre and post test students to identify
the known, provide next steps for individuals and evaluate
their learning and my teaching.
Use relevant assessments that are age appropriate, specific to
the learning ad next steps of my students.
Using backward mapping to identify the intended outcomes
and plan relevant tasks to teach necessary content and skills
in meaningful contexts.
Remember to teach the child who arrives in my class by
forming strong relationships with them and their whanau and
accepting them as individuals.