¶ … promotion of more inclusive education. Up until recently, the practice of separating students with special education needs from general education students was commonplace. However, this practice often resulted in special education students not having access to the same caliber and quality of education as general students. This was recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which recently published reports and recommendations, demonstrating the merit and value of inclusive education for students with different needs and abilities at all levels (Ernest et al., 2011). Furthermore, the importance of identifying students with special needs early in order to provide appropriate education was suggested through research by Buffum et al. (2010). This is described as the premise underlying Response to Intervention (RTI), and differentiated instruction may be effectively used to provide special needs students with appropriate access to curriculum and support (Buffum et al., 2010). There has been a multitude of research conducted that has provided evidence in support of differentiated instruction within all classrooms. Differentiated instruction is not a new concept, as it was the practice used in the past with one-room schoolhouses, where one teacher provided instruction for students of all ages, skill levels, and abilities within one classroom (Ernest et al., 2011). Differentiated instruction addresses the individual needs of students by using various strategies and resources to best accommodate curriculum to the diverse needs, skill levels,

This differs from the more conventional practice of teaching, in which the teacher utilizes one uniform approach to a strategy that is generally based on a deficit of skill or conceptualization (Ernest et al., 2011).
Differentiated instruction occurs when teachers take the skill levels, abilities, interests, and needs of students into account when developing and implementing instructional strategies. These strategies involve ongoing assessments by the teachers of the instruction and the learning activities to ensure that students are benefiting from the lessons, and that the curriculum is interesting and relevant for each student within the classroom (Ernest et al., 2011). Also, diversity is promoted within the differentiated classroom, so that all students including those with special needs have the opportunity ti experience different settings and roles through various individual and group learning activities (Ernest et al., 2011).

These differentiated curriculum plans are developed by teachers through the selection of strategies within four different areas. These areas include content, process, product and learning environments (Ernest et al., 2011). Content indicates the overall outcomes from learning. Process refers to the practice of differentiating how the content is taught to students, including the use of diverse modalities and resources, individualized tasks, or different groups and roles for students (Ernest et al., 2011). The third area is product, which can be altered by students choosing to work individually or by collaborating in…