Many of these mindsets result in teachers and students wasting valuable instructional time. In this mindset, some teachers start the year by slowly reviewing baseline, rudimentary skills, or prerequisite material, thus specifically teaching to those students who lack preliminary skills.
New material is introduced only after the whole class has gone through an extended period of review.
Using this method, usually after the first part of the new year, teachers begin to realize that they haven't progressed very far in introducing new material from the text or the curriculum, and they simply accelerate the speed of instruction. Like a runaway train or bus, the pace of instruction is increasingly accelerated to such a degree that many slower students are simply passed by or left along the way. This situation can be avoided by devising simple assessment devices whereby students demonstrate competencies in baseline concepts, rudimentary skills, or prerequisite materials or content areas. In pre-assessing skills, it may also be helpful to devise opportunities for observation where you can survey skill levels. With older students you can also employ verbal assessments whereby students are given a listing of skills or content and asked to indicate mastered concepts, or asked to discuss knowledge levels or areas of personal proficiency.