NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

1. NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Leading FoR 3-6 differentiation

2. Acknowledgement of Country We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of this Land, where the Aboriginal People have performed age-old ceremonies of storytelling, music, dance and celebration. We acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders past and present, and we acknowledge those of the future, for they will hold the memories, traditions and hopes of Aboriginal Australians. We must always remember that under the concrete and asphalt this Land is, was, and always will be traditional Aboriginal Land.

3. Professional Teaching Standards Standards addressed at Professional Competence in this workshop include: 1.2.2: Apply research-based, practical and theoretical knowledge of the pedagogies of the content/discipline(s) taught to meet learning needs of students. 6.2.1: Reflect critically on teaching and learning practice to enhance student learning outcomes. 6.2.3: Engage in professional development to extend and refine teaching and learning practices.

4. Leading Focus on Reading 3-6 in your school program Module 1 1 x 2hr Module 2 1 x 2hr Module 3 1 x 2hr Module 4 1 x 2hr Leading FoR 3-6 success Leadership FoR and of 3-6literacy learning Leading FoR 3-6 differentiation Culture FoR 3-6 comprehension Between-module tasks

5. Making connections ...

6. precision • During this session, you will: • develop an understanding that differentiated instruction is designed to maximise each student’s growth and individual success • develop an understanding of how school leaders can support differentiated instruction. personalisation professional learning Moral purpose

7. It’s really about commitment ... Providing leadership for effective differentiated classrooms across schools and districts is really about the will to do what we know to do. Tomlinson, C. & Demirsky Allan, S. (2006) Leadership for differentiating schools and classrooms, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, p. 137.

8. Why differentiate? Brain research confirms what experienced teachers have always known: No two children are alike.  No two children learn in an identical way.  An enriched environment for one student is not necessarily enriched for another.  In the classroom, we should teach children to think for themselves.

9. What is differentiation? • Differentiated instruction, also called differentiation, is a process through which teachers enhance learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment. • Differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students' needs(Hall, Strangman & Meyer, 2003). • Differentiated instruction is not a single strategy, but rather an approach to instruction that incorporates a variety of strategies. • Access Centre, 2004

10. Differentiated instruction is responsive instruction. It occurs as teachers become: • increasingly proficient in understanding their students as individuals, • increasingly comfortable with the meaning and structure of the disciplines they teach • increasingly expert at teaching flexibility in order to match instruction to student need with the goal of maximising the potential of each learner in a given area. (Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2003) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpy6rDnXNbs&feature=related

11. Key principles that support differentiation • A differentiated classroom is flexible. • Differentiation of instruction stems from effective and ongoing assessment of learner needs. • Flexible grouping helps ensure student access to a wide variety of learning opportunities and working arrangements. • All students consistently work with ‘respectful’ activities and learning arrangements. • Students and teachers are collaborators in learning. • (Tomlinson & Allan, 2000)

12. Differentiation of instruction is a teacher’s response to a learner’s needs. Guided by general principles of differentiation, such as ongoing assessment and adjustment respectful tasks flexible grouping

13. Flexible grouping: A definition Task Flexible grouping is an instructional strategy where students are grouped together to receive appropriately challenging instruction. True flexible grouping permits students to move in and out of various grouping patterns, depending on the course content. Grouping can be determined by ability, size and/or interest. http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=565 National Association for Gifted Children

14. When I think of flexible grouping, I picture working with sandcastles that the tide will wash away. I think of ability-grouping as working with concrete to build permanent foundations meant to withstand change. Opitz, Michael (2005) Empowering the reader in every child: The case for flexible grouping when teaching reading

15. Flexible grouping Flexible grouping is the heart of differentiated instruction. What is it? What is it not? • permanent • same instruction as large group • tracking • extra work • repetitive worksheets • Round Robin reading • drill, drill, drill. • grouping based on formative assessment • short periods of time • targeted instructional strategy • formative assessment used to determine effectiveness • groups will vary • fluid Heacox, Diane (2001) Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom

16. “… quality literacy teaching involves a continuous cycle of assessing, teaching and learning.”

17. Teachers can differentiate: content process product learning environment according to students’ readiness interests learning profile through a range of instructional and management strategies.

18. Ways to differentiate according to readiness interests learning profile

19. It’s not new Each time you provide a student with extra help, more time or a modified assignment, you’re differentiating instruction. All good teachers, whether they realise it or not, differentiate to some degree. (Diane Heacox, 2001)

20. Leaders for responsive, personalised or differentiated classrooms focus much of their professional energy on two fronts: • what it means to teach individual learners effectively • AND • how to extend the number of classrooms in which that sort of teaching becomes the norm. The ‘What’ and ‘How’ of differentiation

21. Balancing the equation to make differentiation work Tomlinson, C. & Demirsky Allan, S. (2006) Leadership for differentiating schools and classrooms,Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, p. 134.

22. Essential principles to guide change for Differentiation • Change is imperative in today’s classrooms. • The focus of schools’ change must be classroom practice. • For schools to become what they ought to be, we need systemic change. • Change is difficult, slow and uncertain. • Systemic change requires both leadership and administration. • To change schools, we must change the culture of schools. • What leaders do speaks with greater force than what they say. • Change efforts need to link with a wider world. • Leaders for change have a results-based orientation. • (Tomlinson and Allan, 2006, p. 34)

23. Leadership for differentiating schools and classroomsby Carol Ann Tomlinson and Susan Demirsky Allan 1.Understanding differentiated instruction 3. What leaders for differentiation need to know 2.Basis in theory and research 10. Planning for the ‘what’ and ’how’ of differentiation 4. Establishing conditions to initiate systemic change 9. A case study of change in process 5. Practical strategies for implementing a differentiation growth plan 8. Communicating with parents and the public 6. Staff development that supports differentiation 7. Continuation of systemic growth toward differentiation

24. Provide recognition for teacher efforts and growth. • PHASE 1: • Modelled guided and independent teaching = Releasing control • Explicit teaching of Comprehension meta-cognitive strategies • Differentiating content, product, process and learning environment • Scaffolding • Fluid and flexible groupings Leadership FoR 3-6 differentiation

25. Task Consider key principles of and strategies for differentiated instruction Use the mind map to prioritise ways to Differentiate instruction in classrooms.

26. Consider how the concept of differentiation connects with the ‘Triple P’ model. Record your thoughts. Reflection

27. Bibliography Access Center (2004).Differentiated instruction for reading, Washington, D.C. Hammond, J. & Gibbons, P. (2001) What is scaffolding?Scaffolding: teaching and learning in language and literacy education, Primary English Teaching Association (PETA), Sydney. Heacox, Diane (2001) Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom, Freespirit Publishing Inc, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Opitz, M. (2005) ‘Empowering the reader in every child: The case for flexible grouping when teaching reading’,Instructor, Volume 108, Issues 1-6, Scholastic, Inc., Original from the University of Virginia. Tomlinson, C. (1999) The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.

28. Bibliography (cont’d) Tomlinson, C. A. (2001) How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Tomlinson, C. A. (2003) Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Tomlinson, C. A. & Allan, S.D. (2006) Leadership for differentiating schools & classrooms, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.