Differentiation

Differentiation is about supporting all students to learn in a way that is appropriate to their learning style and ability. Differentiation involves quality whole-school systems and quality teaching practices that support the individual needs of students and improve outcomes.

Differentiation through quality whole-school systems involves the strategic use of resources. This includes:

• the ongoing assessment of students to collect assessment data.
• teachers working in teams to analyse assessment data and monitors student progress across the school years including identifying learning gaps and special needs.
• a Learning and Support Team to allocate resources. For example:
• organising  spaces in the school to accommodate different activities such as music tuition, small group learning, and collaborative classrooms for team teaching and the inclusion of students with disability.
• deploying teachers and Student Learning Support Officers (SLSO’s) to run school-wide programs for students requiring additional or specialist support.
• enabling students to access learning beyond their classroom such as across-class and across-grade groupings for literacy and numeracy and other Key Learning Areas.

Differentiation through quality teaching practices involves providing the right level of challenge for each student. This includes:

• creating the shared mindset between teachers, students and parents that all students can learning and achieve growth when given the right support and learning pathway.
• making classrooms stimulating and conducive to learning, and places where students feel valued, safe and supported to take risks with their learning.
• pitching the content and the instruction ‘at or just above’ each student’s developmental level.
• embedding intercultural perspectives into lessons and enabling students to make connections to their existing knowledge and develop new understandings.
• providing multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and providing multiple ways for them to show what they know.
• applying a ‘Teaching Up’ approach where the learning progression starts with basic concepts and skills through to proficiency and mastery which allows all students to have an individual entry point.
• providing individualised and small group targeted learning interventions for identified students when learning gaps are evident.

Differentiation creates a whole school culture that gives high priority to understanding and addressing the learning needs of all students.

Effective differentiation enables a school to raise the performance of all students, including students with disability, students who are falling behind, and students who are ahead of year level expectations.

With differentiation, educational delivery is responsive and adaptable to circumstances and needs. With differentiation, schools become places with more effective programs and innovative strategies that keep every student engaged and learning successfully.

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