The teacher understands, appreciates, and builds upon student differences. Assessment and instruction are inseparable. The teacher adjusts content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interests, and learning profiles. All students participate in respectful work. Students and teachers are collaborators in learning.
Goals are maximum growth and continued success.
Flexibility is the hallmark of a differentiated classroom. Many strategies can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the different needs of students in the class. By making use of materials and resources more advanced than those commonly found at grade level, teachers will be better able to differentiate instruction to the advanced student's level of interest and readiness. When teachers differentiate instruction so that it is challenging for the gifted, they sometimes can change what is taught, how students make sense of ideas, and how the students show what they have learned. Most instructional strategies have some value in working with the gifted, but those that allow for more open-ended and productive learning are probably most beneficial.