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Differentiation Strategies for the Academically Gifted
"A great coach never achieves greatness for himself or his team by working to make all his players alike. To be great, and to make his players great, he must make each player the best that he or she possibly can be. No weakness in skill or understanding is overlooked. Every player plays from his or her competencies, not from a sense of deficiency."
Carol Ann Tomlinson,
The Differentiated Classroom
Gifted students at Moore Square are served in a general education setting through the use of Paideia principles and differentiation strategies. This challenging program includes advanced content, acceleration of instruction, and a variety of content and form. Teachers modify content, process, or products to meet differences in readiness, interest, and learning profile. Differentiation strategies are conducive to the development of gifted learners' skills in higher-level thinking, objective decision-making, critical thinking, leadership, and problem solving. Descriptions of some strategies used by our teachers are below:
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Curriculum Compacting Teachers often compact the curriculum so that students who show mastery of skills can buy time for self-directed learning opportunities. Independent learning opportunities can take place in the classroom, media center, technology project lab, or AG classroom. |
The Coached Project Intellectual coaching of projects provides opportunities for gifted students to advance at their own accelerated pace and to pursue individual interests. Rubrics for the academically gifted reflect appropriate expectations of advanced learners.
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Grouping Strategies Pairing students for some tasks, continually forming flexible-skills groups, and participating in cooperative learning projects are all applications of this strategy. Groups will often change according to skills, projects, and students' preferences. |
Tiered Instruction Teachers use multiple instructional strategies to address diverse students' levels of concept mastery. Several groups may be working on different assignments and projects during class, but they come together later to share their learning.
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Tiered Assignments Varied levels of assignments are used to help students attain new knowledge or skills. High-end learners are given appropriately challenging assignments that encourage them to go in greater depth, use higher-level thought processes, and/or create more sophisticated products.
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Technology Computer technology is available for gifted learners to conduct advanced research, make global connections with others around the world via email, and complete meaningful WebQuests. Gifted students are expected to produce multimedia presentations intended for authentic audiences. |
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Open-ended Activities Gifted students are encouraged to address open-ended activities in ways that demonstrate use of more complex thought-processes and more sophisticated products. Students are expected to set high goals of achievement for themselves. |
Student Choice Students are provided a menu of assignment options that vary with regard to level of difficulty, complexity, and/or learning style. All learners are encouraged to choose appropriately challenging assignments based on individual interests.
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Independent Study Middle school children are encouraged to develop independent learning skills through voluntary participation in independent studies on topics of interest, completion of learning contracts, and involvement in extension/enrichment projects.
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Varied Questioning Skills High-end learners are presented a greater proportion of questions and tasks that challenge thinking, encouraging students to draw on advanced levels of information and requiring leaps of understanding.
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Parents are encouraged to contact their child's teacher to learn which strategies will be used in specific classrooms to meet the needs of gifted students.