Differentiated Curriculum

One of the problems facing teachers, any teacher, is the diversity of learning styles and levels of performance shown by their students. In Texas, especially in South Texas, we have the additional difficulty of instructing children who are labeled as LEP (Limited English Proficiency). The state recognizes 4 levels of LEP students: beginner – intermediate – advanced and advanced high. Teachers at all levels, from kinder to high school, have to adapt to those varied needs.

As any experienced teacher knows, teaching at different levels to the same group of students is no easy task. For example, most children learn better with visual stimuli; it is therefore highly recommended to pepper instruction with images, whether in a book, still photographs or actual video presentations. One can complement the instruction by asking the pupils to draw or color an image related to the lesson, as most children favor that activity. One must be careful, however, not to exhibit a lack of drawing skills in front of their peers. Whatever the artistic result, the child must be praised for rendering the concept in his/her own fashion.

A good teacher will divide his/her class (mentally, not physically) into fast, medium and slow learners. Some children with the same level of intelligence may simply take longer to assimilate the concepts being taught. A useful strategy is to use peer tutoring by including the various levels in each team, and asking the faster learner to help the others; again, it is very important to do so without harming children’s self-esteem.

Since individual performance will vary in the classroom, it is evident that effective teachers will not assess every student the same way, or require every student to deliver the same assignment. A LEP student, for example, whose English is at the beginner’s level, may be asked to draw the theme of the day’s lesson, say copying the outline of a cell. An intermediate student would be expected to draw a human cell and write a few words related to the object, while an advanced or advanced high would be required to actually write a whole paragraph about the cell’s functions. That is part of the differentiated curriculum.

Now a teacher may also have in his/her class a few special education students, who may very well be LEP also. The map to handling their instruction and assessment is described in the IEP (Individual Education Plan), a copy of which must be sent by the special education department. Some of the modifications and/or accommodations may be to give them more time, to shorten their assignments, to sit them close to the teacher, or to use special equipment to facilitate their learning. In any case, these instructions have been approved by a special committee and must be implemented by all teachers.

This is a short overview of what a differentiated curriculum entails for a classroom teacher and, although it seems like a lot of work, it becomes second nature for the instructor after a few weeks and helps establish a bond of trust between students and teachers.

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