Abstract
The concept of differentiation has been addressed in several contemporary texts for general education and is both debated and implemented in practice daily, often without a real understanding of its core premise. This text clarifies the theoretical background to the concept, relates this to current brain research, examines this within several models of gifted education and clarifies how to put this research into practice in teaching gifted students.
It then examines the implications stemming from the new Common Core State Standards in the USA and how these standards impact differentiation for gifted students. While examining characteristics of gifted students at the elementary and then secondary levels, the authors present defensible programming models and service options. The authors then clarify how Honors and Advanced Placement classes, often billed as ‘gifted services’ without appropriate differentiation, can be designed and taught to address the specific learning needs with appropriate methodology for gifted students. Another important topic addressed is the changing role of the teacher from content communicator to that of a ‘mindset shifter’ and ‘knowledge guide’. The authors clarify how Co-Teaching can be effective, sharing strategies and lesson planning, as well as ways to collaborate with the gifted specialist for differentiation.
Additional topics addressed include differentiation for underachievers, the role of assessment, and Teacher Leadership. The authors have provided insight into this essential approach to teaching gifted students, and include a wide range of very useful activities and examples of these strategies at work. In addition, the design and layout of the book includes a wide range of diagrams and lists, which is easy to view and read, as well as reference in practice. It includes worksheets and questions for interviewing students, for setting goals, elementary and secondary reflection logs, and tips for coaching students, especially the underachiever. The role of continuous assessment is clarified, developing from diagnostic through formative to summative assessment and strategies for making this authentic and focused on student growth with examples of diverse measures. They also describe ways to integrate this into instruction in a cyclical process for differentiation. The graphics and rubrics make the concepts easier to understand and practical to implement, especially the ‘Digging Deeper into Questioning Matrix’ (DDQM) for planning units and for assessment. The template for differentiating a Lesson Plan will make this process easier for teachers to implement. Those administrators or coaches responsible for teacher support or accountability will also find the Classroom Observation Form very useful. The authors conclude with tables of strategies to differentiate content, process, and product.
Teachers will be fascinated with this text and take away a range of activities, strategies, assessment tools, and ideas for differentiating for their gifted students. It is also an essential text for university courses in teaching curriculum for gifted students.