Differentiation-Supporting Data Research shows the importance of collecting and examining student data for determining a student's readiness, interest, learning profile and affect. Though each category speaks to different aspects of the student, an educational thread running through all of them is that the more data collected and examined, the more intimately we know the student, which means the more effectively we can adapt lessons to use the student's strengths and address his/her challenges. Student X is a good example of a student having pronounced strengths and abiding educational challenges that were defined by assessment and discussion. With each statement and response given by Student X, her strengths/challenges became better defined, more connections could be made between her formal learning experience and her uniqueness, and possible unique lessons became clearer. Though data collection and examination for Student X were far from comprehensive, even that brief experience gave a glimpse of the value and significance of data collection for effective education.
¶ … student data is vital to the student's readiness, interest, learning profile and affect. As studies have shown, the more comprehensive the data about a student, the more capable a teacher becomes in tailoring lessons to use each student's strengths and address each student's challenges. By assessing X with even a simple tool like "Learning Style Inventory" and discussing the student's strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, a clearer picture is obtained for accommodating her strengths and addressing her challenges with unique lessons.
The Importance and Value of Collecting Data
Rather than relying on happenstance to discover information about our students, teachers are now consciously collecting pertinent data about students, for "research and experience in increasingly global classrooms are revealing the complex interplay of factors that influence a student's learning" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). The goal of such data collection is "personalized learning -- to use what we find out about our students as a key to unlock their learning potential" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011).
"Student readiness" for learning is dependent not only on "knowledge, understanding, and skills," but is also "profoundly influenced by an individual's prior learning success or failure, self-esteem, sense of efficacy, cultural norms, social status within the class or group, life experience, dispositions and attitudes, and habits of mind" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). Consequently, the more specific data we can collect and examine, the more able we are to accurately assess each student's readiness and tailor instruction to that level of readiness. Data collection and examination are also important in the area of "student interest," for "There is a considerable research base to support a strong correlation between the degree of student interest and levels of student motivation, achievement, productivity, and perseverance" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011), for at least two reasons: interested students are motivated to "pursue learning experiences of ever-increasing complexity and difficulty" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011); in addition, interested students can more readily see connections between current schoolwork and their personal, future goals (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). "Student learning profiles" are also greatly aided by data collection and examination, which is recommended in 5 areas: biological traits, including the student's "gender, age, physical development, physical disabilities, health, motor skills, coordination, and diagnosed learning disabilities" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011); cultural and societal factors, including the student's "sense of stability, both now and in past; economic status; ethnic and racial background; cultural identity; language; religion; norms and values; and gender expectations" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011); emotional and social influences, including "family structure, family history, recent change or loss in the family, attitude, disposition, peer status, and self-esteem" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011); academic performance, including data about the student's "concrete or abstract thinking skills, reading skills, attentional focus, past success, oral language development, written language, proficiency with sequencing, proficiency with categorization, and proficiency in identifying logical arguments" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011); learning preferences, including the student's "interests, intelligence preferences, learning styles, production styles, and environmental influences" (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011). Collecting and examining data in these 5 categories should give a useful, extensive profile for tailoring lessons for each student. Finally, data collection and examination is valuable for "student affect," which is defined as "the attitudes, interests, and values that students exhibit and acquire in school" (Popham, 2009). According to Popham, student affect is possibly even more important for the student's post-school life than his/her school life. Popham recommends collecting this data through students' anonymous responses to "self-report affective inventories" (Popham, 2009). Clearly, collecting data regarding attitudes, interest and values will assist teachers in playing to each student's strengths in developing lessons.
Assessing the Learning Style of Student X
Student X ("X") was assessed with the "Learning Style Inventory" (Anonymous, nd). The data was collected by having X take the inventory in this writer's presence, and then the data was analyzed by clicking on the "Determine Style" button and discussing the results with X. X had some difficulty choosing a single answer for many of the questions, as she repeatedly said, "Well, that depends. I can't just keep clicking 'Sometimes,' can I?" I assured X that she could do exactly that if "Sometimes" is her honest answer. Ultimately, X's answers varied.
X is a 15-year-old female who is a sophomore in a small private school in a small town. X is the 4th of 6 children, is highly intelligent and articulate, has many friends in school, participates in many extracurricular activities, has taken piano lessons for 8 years and plays piano well, achieves average grades in subjects she dislikes, such as Math, but excellent grades in her favorite subjects, such as English and History. She is no disciplinary problem at all, except that she is frequently late for class. X maintains that she has hated school "every day since the 1st day." She claims that it is the rigidity of being "trapped like a rat" in class that she despises the most. X maintains that she learns much more on her own than in class, frequently researches miscellaneous topics "just because they interest me at that moment," writes for the school newspaper, speaks easily in class and participates in public speaking, and aspires to be a professional writer.
Results of the Inventory and Possible Ways to Address X's Needs in a Classroom
X was classified by the "Learning Style Inventory" as a Visual Learner. She agrees that the classification is probably correct, as she much prefers reading and researching on her own rather than learning from a class lecture. I am concerned about X's abiding dislike for Math and want to use her strengths to increase her interest in the subject and make connections between Math and some of her favorite activities. Using this student's strengths, I will ask her to research and write an article for the school newspaper about the relationship between Math and Music/Research and Writing, which she enjoys. Then I will have her prepare a lesson plan and teach a portion of Math class about that relationship, combining Math with Public Speaking, which she enjoys.
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