Differentiation of instruction, assessment and products has been a component of the Student Outcomes Plan for many years. For Career Ladder teachers, the differentiation process begins when a teacher has a clear understanding of the individual needs of the children assigned to their class. As a part of the Student Outcomes Plan requirements Career Level teachers are asked to provide in writing an analysis of their class as a whole and to identify the individual needs of the students so that they can plan appropriately for these students. Teachers must significantly and comprehensively describe their population of students. Teachers should make a commitment this September to gathering all the information they need in order to truly know their class.
Planning is only the first step.
Implementing and analyzing the results are critical because true differentiation is a cyclical process. Life would indeed be grand if everything we planned and implemented worked the first time and all children learned at the same pace. End of Year Analysis takes the differentiation requirements and processes a step further. To meet the requirements and standards teachers must describe general teaching approaches and a rationale for why these approaches were implemented. Interventions must be detailed and examples of specific assessments, standards, and modifications utilized in the implementation of the Student Outcomes Plan must be included.