Assignment overview and key concepts

NAmerican education has always had as its central paradigm the right of all children to receive at least a basic level of education up to the high school level. The challenge inherent in this right is to help a number of different children with different abilities and needs in the same classroom to attain a similar level of education in a similar measure of time. This is the basis for the rise and growth of what is known today as differentiating instruction. According to Kingore (2005), this educational paradigm recognizes that students in the same classroom more often than not come from different educational, social, and mental backgrounds and therefore have differentiating instructional needs. In other words, not all these students will respond to the same stimulus in the classroom. For this reason, instruction provided to students focus on their various levels of ability in terms of strategies such as the pace and level of instruction, grouping, and learning products. These are concerns that were taken into account at my institution of learning, where I teach 7th grade students. One change that has been implemented as a result of differentiating instruction is the view that teachers have of their position as facilitators rather than instructors (Hess, n.d.). This has created the need for teacher training, a change in the leadership paradigm, and increased funding for general implementation.

Background

The school has adhered to a traditional educational paradigm for the 15 years of its existence. The teachers have maintained a teaching style of instruction in the classroom, where all children were subject to the same style and pace of instruction. This has worked well for the first years of the school's existence, since it has not had a wide diversity of students. For this reason, teachers at the beginning of the year would make an assessment of the collective needs of the students in his or her classroom, and create a pan of action for the year accordingly. During the year, the students would become more diversified in terms of their manifest needs. Students with particularly intense needs would then be sent to a remedial program where their needs could be met.

While this strategy worked fairly well over the years, the pass rates have begun to drop recently, and my administrators have been looking for ways in which to help more students achieve their educational goals. This has brought them to the idea of differentiating education, especially since the demographic at our school has been changing to include an increasing diversity of cultures, abilities, and needs.

Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of the plan are therefore to help the students at the institution reach previously established educational goals for each year of study. Since there has been a decline in the pass rates over the years, one of the major goals is to find ways in which to remedy this. Hence, the leadership at the school has decided that a new direction should be implemented, in the form of differentiating education.

A related goal was therefore to train teachers in the administration of this type of education. Furthermore, continued support would be provided in the form of professional contacts in the field, as well as instructional materials that teachers could access at their convenience.

Plan of Action

The first part of the plan of action is to call a meeting with all the teachers and explain the rationale behind differentiating education, as well as its basic tenets. The implementation itself will then have to occur gradually. Each grade's teachers will be provided with in-depth training in the design of this type of instruction. During these training sessions, teachers will also be provided with the opportunity to ask questions or provide suggestions on the most plausible way of implementing this type of instruction at the school. It is important to provide both thorough training and adequate subsequent support to make such a program a success, particularly at an institution like ours, where there has not been a large amount of experience with the new direction.

Furthermore, some resistance to the new direction is expected, since it is a substantial departure from the traditional instruction provided at the school up to the present. However, with adequate leadership, this should be made possible, especially if the implementation is sufficiently gradual.

In the classrooms themselves, the strategy will therefore start with an assessment of what students needs. For grade 7, this will begin with simple activities in each subject, where the ability of each student in the subject is measured. This will then be used to plan subsequent activities and group work to help students arrive at the predetermined goals for the grade level. Hall, Strangman and Meyer (2011) note that the attitude of teachers should shift from the punitive to the supportive. Hence, these assessments should be handled with the appropriate level of tact and sensitivity, so that no student is made to feel penalized for "lesser" ability. Instead, a general attitude of helpfulness should be prevalent throughout the classroom.

Assessment

Assessment will occur on the basis of the established end goals for each grade. For each subject, a number of goals should be established for students to attain in order to pass the grade. The way in which students arrive at these goals should be differentiated according to the abilities and needs of each student. When assessment occurs, this should be on the same basis. Students should be assessed in a way that establishes their abilities in a supportive manner rather than in a punitive one.

Again, at my institution, this is a substantial departure from the way in which things have been done in the past. However, it is important to help students become better and at the same time to also improve the pass rate of the school. Because of our changing demographic, we can no longer adhere to the status quo and must search for new ways to more effectively prepare young people for higher education.