Fontbonne’s Fall Institute featuring Dr. Sandra PageOctober 25, 2008Differentiation by ReadinessWhen students enter the classroom with a range of skill and knowledge levels, it seems prudent to respond to that variance by offering an set of tasks or lessons that attend to those differences. "Tiered" lessons give all students important, appropriate and focused work to do as they build and grow in learning. Pre-assessments and practical strategies that result in differentiated tasks, flexible groups, and an ascending level of intellectual demand will be reviewed so that participants can make the transfer into their own classroom practices. Sandra Williams PageSandra Williams Page has worked for over a decade with differentiated instruction as a teacher, a central office administrator, and now, a full-time educational con sultant. In those roles, she and instructional leaders at the school and district levels have offered professional training, developed curriculum and instructional strategies, and used administrative monitoring tools to effect changes toward serving diverse learners in regular classrooms. Page serves as a professional consultant with ASCD and presents to groups across the country. She wrote the chapter on using literature circles in the ASCD book Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades K–5. Her Educational Leadership article described how gifted students were being served by differentiation in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Area of Expertise: Differentiated Instruction 
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