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E-zine Keys
to Successtul Districtwide Differentiation: I greeted the group
of teachers as they came into the room. Several
stopped to share tidbits of success with me, and
one asked where she could put several student
projects she wanted to show to the group sometime
during the workshop. As the various workshop
participants sat down, I could see them chatting
with one another, informally discussing their
experiences with differentiation even before the
workshop officially began. I couldn't help but
contrast this scene with the experience I had just
a week previously. That particular workshop was a
half-day required inservice session for all
teachers, scheduled the afternoon before Spring
Break was to begin. Those teachers had never met me
before, were not happy to be attending a workshop,
and in fact, upon entering the room asked if I
could finish in two hours instead of three so that
they could get a head start on the holiday traffic!
In both cases the
topic was the same: "Differentiating Curriculum for
Gifted and Talented Students." The difference was
the approach to professional development itself. In
the first example, the day was part of an ongoing,
focused and well-developed professional development
plan. In the second instance, my presentation was
merely a way to fill the required three hours of
teacher training on an afternoon set aside by the
school district for that purpose. In the first
case, the teachers were excited about learning and
had incorporated what they were doing in the
workshop into their classrooms. They were eager to
find out more. The second group came to the
workshop resentful and frustrated, and I suspect
most had already decided there was nothing to be
gained no matter what the speaker said or did!
What made the
difference in these two scenarios? It was not the
quality of the teachers themselves. Instead, it was
the way in which professional development
opportunities were planned and implemented. My
experience in planning and implementing
professional development focuses on a long-term
approach in teaching educators how to differentiate
curriculum for gifted and talented students. I have
used this approach in working with school districts
nationwide. While there are a few variations among
districts, four elements are always present. These
are: The concept of
differentiation originated in Public Law 91-230,
the federal gifted education law passed in the
1970s. It says, "These are children who require
differentiated educational programs and services
beyond those normally provided by regular school
programs in order to realize their contribution to
self and society." Simply stated,
differentiated instruction allows each student to
learn at the depth, complexity and pace that is
most beneficial to him or her. Differentiating
curriculum and instruction is a rich and effective
strategy to use when providing for the needs of
gifted and talented students, especially when those
students spend most or all of their time in regular
classrooms. This approach to
teaching reaches all students more effectively
because the same basic objectives and standards can
be taught in a number of different ways so that
they are meaningful to students with a variety of
learning styles and ability levels. It is a
beneficial approach for gifted students because it
looks at their individual needs not just at grade
level standards and skills. It is important for
all teachers to understand and use the basic
concepts and strategies of differentiation if they
want to successfully teach and challenge gifted
students. Even in schools where pull-out programs
exist, most gifted students remain in the
grade-level classroom setting for the majority of
the time they are in school. Therefore, most
teachers in any school need to know how to
differentiate. A first step is to
help teachers who have had little or no training in
gifted and talented education understand that these
students do have special and unique needs. The next
step is to show them practical and doable ways to
meet these needs when they also must focus on the
needs of many other students in their classrooms.
This challenge is one that can be met by using the
strategies inherent in differentiation. Differentiation may
encompass any or all of these concepts: While most
educators acknowledge that they have not been
issued "standardized students" and therefore agree
that differentiation is a great idea in principle,
the pressing question usually is: "How do you
actually implement this concept in a school or
school district?" Such an undertaking is a
challenge! While one workshop or a pep talk about
"Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students" or
"Differentiation for All" may spark the initial
interest of a few teacher-leaders, this at best is
merely the spark to get the fire going. Long-term
results take time, effort, planning, practice,
ongoing teacher training and a wealth of practical
strategies that teachers can implement effectively.
These are the elements that turn the concept of
differentiation into a reality. I have been working
extensively with Prairie Heights Community School
Corporation in LaGrange, Indiana for a number of
years. We have been in the process of making
differentiation a reality in classrooms throughout
the district for nearly six years. Our journey
together began during the 1999-2000 school year.
When I spoke on Differentiation at a statewide
conference, three Prairie Heights teachers attended
my session. They went away excited about what they
had learned in that brief time and wanted to know
more. Later during the
same school year, nine teachers from Prairie
Heights joined teachers from other schools at a
regional three-day workshop series I presented on
differentiating instruction. Sponsored by the
Indiana DOE Gifted and Talented Office, this was a
more in-depth approach where participants received
my book Teaching Tools for the 21st Century as a
basic resource for the training. These teachers,
who represented grades 2-8, returned from this
workshop very enthused about what they had learned.
They definitely were ready to begin putting this
concept into practice, but also wanted the
opportunity to learn more and deepen their
understanding of how to apply differentiated
instruction in their classrooms. After the three-day
workshop, these nine Prairie Heights teachers wrote
to me: We have all had the
experience of attending a workshop and coming back
full of enthusiasm and energy about the ideas we
have learned. But what about three months later?
Will the ideas still be implemented? All of us have
made a start using at least one strategy for
differentiation. Will there be any opportunities
for follow-up?How can we best use your book? What
about other teachers in our schools who are
interested but have never had any training? We
don't want differentiated instruction to be put on
the shelf as just another good idea that never got
put into action. After discussing
the issues among themselves, these teachers decided
to meet with the superintendent and express both
their enthusiasm for differentiation and their
concerns about ongoing training. As a result, the
teachers, the superintendent and the building
principals devised a plan to continue the
differentiation training during the next school
year. They invited me to work in their district on
three days interspersed throughout the school year.
The nine teachers who were involved in the initial
training combined with nine new teachers for those
three days. The objective was for the veteran
teachers to learn more about differentiation from
me while at the same time act as a mentor for the
new teacher each brought to the workshop.
In between my three
visits, these nine teacher pairs discussed ideas,
tried strategies in their classroom and met for
scheduled after school sessions for sharing and
continued learning. My periodic visits allowed me
to introduce new strategies and gave them an
opportunity to share successes, problems and
challenges with me. Teachers were also given
release time during the school day to work on new
strategies and write units. All of this helped keep
the focus on differentiation, while at the same
time enabled the district to build a group of
in-house resident experts. Teacher training on
differentiation has continued throughout the past
five years. I continue to present workshops for new
teachers while small group sharing and study led by
in-house resident experts goes on. The teachers who
serve as in-house trainers also organize afternoon
book study sessions where anyone can attend. This
study usually involves taking a chapter of one of
my books already used during the training sessions
as a focal point for a specific topic to be
discussed. The pattern for my
visits has changed somewhat, as Prairie Heights
teachers have now invited teachers from other
school districts to join their training. Part of
each training day is spent observing veteran
Prairie Heights teachers implementing
differentiation strategies in their classrooms.
Some of the original nine Prairie Heights teachers
are becoming well known as state and national
presenters in differentiation
strategies. General
Guidelines for Schools The example of
professional development I have described at
Prairie Heights follows the model I have used in a
number of other districts as well. These general
guidelines are helpful in developing and
implementing teacher training and professional
development: 1. Begin with the
most eager and motivated teachers. This works
particularly well if these are also the classroom
teachers with clusters of gifted
students. 2. Start small and
build from there. A small group of enthusiastic
teachers who are focused on implementing a concept
and armed with several practical classroom
strategies will set the stage for more encompassing
change throughout your school or school
district. 3. Have a plan for
continually incorporating more teachers into
professional development activities. 4. Make use of
conference sessions or short introductory workshops
as beginning motivators, starting points or
interest builders for teachers. However, don't
expect that a great deal of ongoing change will
come as a result of these alone. 5. Remember that
effective professional development for teachers is
high quality, sustained, intensive and
classroom-focused. (Section 9101.34 of
NCLB) 6. Have a
comprehensive plan that includes several training
sessions plus time for writing new units and
strategies, sharing with one another and follow-up
after new strategies have been tried in the
classroom. 7. Whenever
possible, supply teachers with books or other
resources that can be used in the workshop and then
can be referenced later to make the implementation
of what they have learned easier. 8. Make certain
principals and other administrators support and are
actively involved in the professional development
of teachers. Even if they cannot attend the
training, their interest and backing is
crucial. 9. Use an outside
consultant who understands the practical needs and
concerns of teachers. While theory may be relevant
and worthwhile, teachers need to come away from the
training with practical strategies showing them how
to actually implement and use the concept in their
classrooms. 10. Develop
in-house resident experts who are willing to
organize and facilitate regularly scheduled
follow-up sessions. 11. Showcase
classrooms where new strategies are being used
well. Build in time for workshop participants to
see these classrooms in action. 12. Become
self-sustaining and able to incorporate and train
new teachers as they come into the school or school
district. The PreK-Grade 12
Gifted Program Standards document developed by the
National Association for Gifted Children lists
guiding principles and standards for the
professional development of teachers of gifted
children that mirror some of the guidelines stated
above. Among its recommendations are: How Can Parents
Help? Unlike Prairie
Heights, in some other school districts where I
have worked the initial impetus for teacher
training came not from the teachers but from
parents of gifted students. Usually parents are the
first to know that their child is bored in school,
that the work is too easy or that their child is
assigned classroom activities focusing on lower
level rather than higher-level thinking. For many
parents, this feeling of dissatisfaction points to
a problem, yet they do not know what to do about
it. In fact, any time I speak to a gifted parent
group, no matter what the topic of my talk may be,
concerns about what is going on in the regular
classroom always arise. Parents need to
have the ear of the principal (or other
administrator) and know how to ask the right
questions. This takes some understanding of
educational jargon as well as knowing clearly what
is actually wanted. For example, parents may want
to ask the principal if students are allowed to
test out of what they already know and work on
other activities. If parents know that the process
they are describing is called curriculum
compacting, they can ask if teachers have been
trained to use this strategy and find out if it is
generally implemented throughout the school. Such
conversations serve as reminders that teachers
should be trained to meet the needs of their gifted
students. Parents must be
knowledgeable advocates for their children. They
should know how to make and articulate reasonable
and feasible requests and be able to offer
suggestions regarding strategies and approaches
they would like teachers to use. If the parents of
gifted students do not speak up about the needs of
their children, gifted students are often ignored
as schools concentrate on other priorities. On the
other hand, even one parent can make a difference.
As a new school
year begins, I look forward to taking the first
step in working with a group of teachers at a
middle school in Georgia. They have a very diverse
student population including a number of identified
gifted students. We have already planned ongoing
professional development, including a two-day
introductory session and several follow-up sessions
throughout the school year. In this case, the
initial request for teacher training did not come
from the teachers. Instead, it came from a parent
who articulated the needs of her own gifted child
and worked with the principal to make this
inservice opportunity a reality. With this school as
with many others, my pattern for professional
development remains the same. Teachers will have
ongoing training, time for writing differentiated
units, opportunities to take what they have learned
and try it in their classrooms and many occasions
for sharing and reflecting with one another. I am
looking forward to facilitating their work and
making a difference in the lives of the gifted
students they teach. Is ongoing staff
development necessary for teachers of gifted and
talented students? Most assuredly it is! Is
training about the gifted and how to work with them
essential for both gifted resource and regular
classroom teachers? Absolutely. Can it be done
easily and quickly with a one-shot workshop? That
is very unlikely. In a culture of
instant everything, it is tempting to look for the
quick fix as we try to show teachers how to meet
the needs of gifted learners. A more successful and
longer-lasting approach, however, is one that
requires sustained and ongoing training, gives time
for practice, implementation and reflection and
allows teachers to share both successes and
failures with one another. References: Coil, Carolyn.
(2004). Standards-Based Activities and Assessments
for the Differentiated Classroom. Marion, IL:
Pieces of Learning. (www.piecesoflearning.com).
Coil, Carolyn.
(2000). Teaching Tools for the 21st Century.
Marion, IL: Pieces of Learning.
(www.piecesoflearning.com). National
Association for Gifted Children. (1998). PreK-Grade
12 Gifted Program Standards. Washington, D.C.:
Author. (www.nagc.org). U.S. Congress.
(2002). No Child Left Behind Act. Washington, D.C.:
Author.
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