Why it works
Differentiation responds to students' readiness, interest, and learning profile by adjusting content, process, or product, while holding the learning goals constant. Used with ongoing assessment, it keeps work appropriately challenging rather than lowering expectations for some students.
The research: Tomlinson on differentiated instruction; research on responsive teaching.
The run-of-show
Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.
The core activity: differentiate one lesson, one way
Teachers leave having differentiated one lesson on one lever, driven by real data.
- Pick one upcoming lesson.
- Use assessment data to find the key difference in readiness or need.
- Choose one thing to differentiate: content, process, or product, not everything.
- Plan how students are grouped or given options, and keep the learning goal the same for all.
Differentiate one thing wellTrying to differentiate everything is how teachers burn out. Pick one lever, content, process, or product, driven by real evidence of need.
Facilitator notes
- Start small and let data drive it.
- Keep the learning goal constant for all students.
- Use flexible grouping, not fixed ability tracks.
Avoid fixed ability groupsPermanent high and low groups harm students. Group flexibly by the current skill and task, and let the groups change.
Adapt it
- <b>Elementary:</b> choice of task and leveled texts.
- <b>Secondary:</b> tiered tasks and product options.
- <b>Multilingual learners:</b> language supports that keep the cognitive demand high.
Participant handout
One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.
K12 Academics · Professional Learning
Differentiation: one lesson, one lever
<b>Adjust one of three levers, driven by data:</b> content, process, or product, with the goal held high for all.
- The lesson and goal:
- The key difference (from data):
- The one lever I will use:
- How students are grouped or given options:
- How I keep the goal high for all:
Make it stick
Keep it sustainable and data-driven:
- Differentiate one lever at a time.
- Let data drive grouping, and keep groups flexible.
- Bring one differentiated lesson that worked to the next PLC.
Common questions
Does differentiation mean a different lesson for every student?
No. It usually means a few planned options or supports for the same goal, driven by what your checks for understanding show.
Isn't this just lowering the bar for some?
Done right, the goal stays high for everyone. What changes is the path to it, not the destination.
How is this different from scaffolding?
Scaffolding is temporary support toward a goal. Differentiation plans for known differences in readiness, interest, or profile across students.