Differentiation: A Study of its Meaning and Implementation for Gifted Students

“Facilitating gifted students’ understanding of the meaning of differentiation has the potential to enhance their involvement in differentiated experiences . . .”

Controversy regarding differentiation has been an integral component of gifted education. What does it mean? What does it include? How is it implemented? Who receives differentiated experiences? Why does differentiation appear to be associated dominantly with gifted education? These are among the prevalent questions that educators consistently attempt to answer with theories, curricular examples and models, professional learning opportunities, and personal experiences.

National, state, and district edicts; schools’ decisions; teachers’ practices; parents’ conversations; and gifted students’ queries have attempted to define, develop, demonstrate, and defend differentiation as a practice and obligation related to the identification and education of gifted students. The concept and implementation of differentiation is continually molded by contemporary political, social, economic, and educational factors. It is acknowledged that differentiation has been aligned with concepts of “privilege” and “priority” and has been perceived as a reward rather than an essential feature of the teaching and learning experience for gifted students. Other erroneous interpretations of the concept of differentiation appear to evolve from the gifted students’ own misinterpretations of the very process in which they have been engaged. “Because I am gifted” is an insufficient response to both peers and adults as to why a gifted student is involved in a differentiated curricular experience. A significant method to resolve the misunderstandings related to the why, what, and how of differentiation would be to directly address differentiation in a manner that specifically clarifies its definition and implementation to the gifted students for whom it is intended.

An Introduction to Differentiation: A Prerequisite Study

The concept of creating and offering an introductory session or “course of study” that focuses on the fundamental objectives, dimensions, and implementation of “differentiation” is suggested. This “course of study” would be provided as a prerequisite to gifted students’ actual engagement in differentiated curriculum experiences and can be provided to them within a classroom setting, school, or district programmatic structure. The “course of study” would include the following objectives and experiences for gifted students who have been newly identified or who are continuing members of the gifted population. The deliberately planned interactions among novice and experienced gifted students provide the opportunity for dialogue and exchanging of personally related questions and answers. This experience also potentially clarifies and underscores the academic, social, and emotional needs of gifted students to participate in differentiated learning experiences with both the efficacy of the meaning and the integrity to define differentiated experiences in relationship to the concept of “intellectual equity.” Facilitating gifted students’ understanding of the meaning of differentiation has the potential to enhance their involvement in differentiated experiences and to eradicate some of the speculation about gifted services.

The following components (see Table 1) are suggested to be included in the “study of differentiation” as a means to ameliorate the misconceptions that often surround the concept and implementation of differentiation to gifted students.

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Table 1.

Outline for the Study of Differentiation

Sessions	Objectives
Nature of Giftedness	Recognizing and responding to abilities, interests, and talents
Purposes of Differentiation	Responding to individual differences by modifying and/or adapting curriculum to support and challenge the development of gifted traits and their corresponding abilities, needs, and talents
Types of Differentiation	Providing advanced, depth, complexity, and novelty of learning by adjusting the acquisition or implementation of subject matter, skills, resources, products, time, work style, and environment
Teacher Roles to Differentiation	Introduce, facilitate, and support the appropriate alignment of differentiation to groups and individual gifted students
Gifted Students Roles to Differentiation	Define the individual and collaborative active involvement of the gifted student’s responsibilities in the differentiated learning processes
Parents and Community Roles in Differentiation	Define the meaning of “support” and the activities included in rendering the act of “support” to gifted students
Relationship of Differentiation to Core or Basic Curriculum	Explain differentiation’s compatible relationship to augment and/or extend the core curriculum
Assessment in Differentiation	Describe the many and varied methods to develop and utilize self-defined assessment criteria and tools
Effect on All Learners	Elaborate the concept that “differentiation” is an educational obligation and opportunity to recognize and respond to the diversity of traits and needs that differ among all learners’ needs, interests, and abilities

At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to address important questions related to the meaning of differentiation, what it includes, how it is implemented, and who is included.