Differentiated

Assessment Strategies

 According to Chapman & King, Differentiated

assessment is an on going process through which

teachers gather data before, during and after
instruction using multiple formative and summative
tools (p.1).

Tomlinson shares that different learners have differing

needs. Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a
variety of ways to get at and express learning(p.3).

A differentiated classroom is one in which the teacher

responds to the unique needs of students Chapman &

Gregory (p.3).

What is Differentiated
Instruction?

 I try to think of DI as a way to connect to each of

your students. Each student comes to class with
a different background, different things
occurring at home and different knowledge

Get to know each of your students. Once you can

understand them as a person you can help them
understand learning as a learner.

DI is Student Centered so it makes sense to

know your students, learning experiences are

most effective when they are engaging, relevant,
and interesting Tomlinson (p.5).

Implementing DI into your

classroom.
Keep in mind the student, not the

teacher, determines the importance,

value, or need. Chapman & King (p.15)

It can be a scary thought to try a new way

to teach students. I suggest trying to DI
one subject when you are starting. This
way you can get a feel for what is needed.
You will need to pre assess the students
to know their prior knowledge. Once you
find out you can then find ways to
differentiate the lesson for your learners.

 You need to challenge your advance learners

and challenge your struggling learners. This is

how students learn to cope and develop selfefficacy.

Self-efficacy is important to develop.

Some advance learners will struggle with

building self-efficacy because they haven't

been challenged enough.

Students who struggle can also struggle with

self-efficacy because of continuous failure.

Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is the students belief in
self and in the ability to succeed
Chapman & King(p.28).

Self-efficacy is an important part of

learning. The student or learner needs

to have the confidence to succeed in
themselves. This will help the learner
succeed.

 We know that learning happens best

when a learning experience pushes
the learner a bit beyond his or her
independence level Tomlinson(p.8)

Challenging students during DI is a

must. Students need to be pushed
just past their comfort zone to
become better learners.

Pre-assessment whole class

 I attempted to differentiate my lessons on my trip

to Thailand with my students.

I wanted the students to learn as much about a

foreign country as possible. Such as the culture, the

religion, the education system and government.

I pre-assessed them as a class using a chalk talk.

I wrote down all knowledge they had of Thailand.
We had been discussing it for a few weeks at
Morning Meeting so they recalled plenty of
information.

Bartering

Performance Assessment
In the next slide I have a video of when we used
performance assessment in our classroom.

Miss Ball and Myself had just returned from

Thailand and we had talked about how we had

bartered while there.

We let the students barter and work on halving

numbers.

We videoed our students and talked with them

as they participated in bartering.

It became clear to which students understood

halving and which students needed help.

Performance assessment

Standards
CCS 2.OA Fluently add and subtract within 20 using
mental strategies.

CCS 2.MD Solve word problems involving dollar

bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.

 After the performance assessment I was able

to work in a small group with the students
that were having difficulty halving numbers.

My Co-teacher was able to take the other

group and continue by practicing halving
larger numbers.

Our students were engaged and interested

during this assessment. We were also able to

help those who struggled by talking them
through bartering and working in small
groups after the activity..

References
Chapman, C. & King, R. (2012). Differentiated assessment
strategies: one tool doesnt fit all. (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin Press.
Gregory, G. (2013). Differentiated instructional strategies one size
doesn't fit all (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in MixedAbility Classrooms. (2nd ed., pp. 1-44). Alexandria: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.