Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction is the planned adjustment of content, learning processes, or support to address differences in learners’ readiness, interests, and needs.

Readiness: A learner’s current knowledge, skills, and understanding in relation to a learning goal. Readiness helps determine the level of challenge or support an assignment should provide.
Content differentiation: Adjusting the material or information learners encounter while pursuing a learning goal. It names one of the three commonly distinguished dimensions of differentiation.
Choice board: A grid of learning tasks from which students select activities, often within set requirements. Structured choice can vary practice or demonstration while retaining common expectations.
Ability grouping: Organizing learners into groups based on assessed academic performance or perceived ability. Fixed ability groups can turn flexible responses into enduring labels and unequal expectations.
Formative assessment: Assessment used during instruction to gather evidence about learning and guide next steps. Ongoing evidence reveals when planned adjustments are needed.
Process differentiation: Varying learning activities or pathways through which learners make sense of content. It describes changing how learners work toward a shared goal.
Literature circle: A small-group discussion in which students share responsibility for interpreting a text. Text selection and group discussion can be adapted to interests and reading readiness.
Tracking (education): Assigning students to distinct educational pathways according to perceived academic ability or achievement. Tracking separates students into sustained pathways rather than adapting instruction within a shared setting.
Flexible grouping: A teaching practice that changes student groupings according to goals, tasks, or learning needs. Temporary groups let instruction respond to changing readiness without fixed ability tracks.
Product differentiation: Offering varied ways for learners to demonstrate understanding of a learning goal. It describes adapting how learning is expressed or assessed.

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