Quality Assignments incorporate Higher Order Thinking to promote deeper understanding of the content. Differentiating assignments makes these rigorous assignments challenging, accessible and possible for all students. Each assignment, when differentiated, targets the same rigorous Learning Goals, but they provide varying amounts of support or challenge as needed by each student. The resulting high level of student engagement and success that comes from differentiated assignments leads all students to a deeper understanding of the important content and skills required by the new generation of state and national standards. Differentiated Assignments are a strategic instructional approach designed for diverse classrooms where a single task can overwhelm some students while leaving others unengaged. The core principle is to maintain a rigorous learning goal for all students while providing flexible and varied pathways to reach it. Differentiated Assignments are a strategic instructional approach designed for diverse classrooms where a single task can overwhelm some students while leaving others unengaged. The core principle is to maintain a rigorous learning goal for all students while providing flexible and varied pathways to reach it With this Differentiating Assignments professional learning, you will be able to… •Articulate the rationale for Differentiated Assignments as a core strategy to promote equity and increase student achievement. •Analyze Learning Goals and student data to identify opportunities for differentiation based on readiness, interest, and learning preference. •Design a variety of differentiated assignments—including tiered tasks, menus, and structured choice—that are tightly aligned to a central learning goal. •Evaluate the design of a differentiated assignment, ensuring all tiers and choices maintain rigorous alignment with learning standards. •Develop and apply a single, standards-based rubric to ensure equitable and consistent evaluation of student work across all differentiated tasks. •Implement strategies that scaffold assignments for support and extend them for enrichment, while utilizing a common rubric to fairly assess all student outcomes.
