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Diff INstruc Article Review
Diff INstruc Article Review
Mariane Mitchell
TPA 002
Mj Gilio
Differentiated Instruction 2
The author is this article is a fifth-grade teacher at Veterans Park Elementary School and
a doctoral student in the International Leadership doctoral program at Western Connecticut State
University. The focus of this article review is to summarize the author’s viewpoints and
recommendations of the use of differentiated instruction to help students reach and exceed
standards based on their individual learning needs. I will identify the various types of
differentiated instruction, the appropriate usage of differentiated instruction and the authors
Levy states that students enter the classroom with a variety of abilities, personalities, and
learning styles that are different from each other (p. 161). Differentiated instruction is the way
for teachers to meet these differences and help the students meet and exceed the established
content standards. Levy points about that every teacher who has entered a classroom has
differentiated his or her instruction in some way (p. 162). They do this when they give a student
more time to complete an assignment, allow a choice in what the students want to read or give
different types of assessments (p. 162). By making the classrooms responsive to the students
Appropriate Usage
Levy points out that the core of differentiated instruction is flexibility in content, process,
and product based on student strengths, needs, and learning styles (p.162). Content is what we
teach and the author believes that differentiated instruction allows for variation in content
without losing sight of the content curriculum to which ass children are entitled. Levy offers the
Differentiated Instruction 3
suggestion to help students who are below grade level by providing smaller amounts of content
or providing the students with appropriates levels of content for the learner.
Levy defines process as how teachers teach and how students learn. It is important that
teachers understand that not all students learn the same way and, therefore, teachers cannot teach
them all the same way (p.162). Levy states that teachers need to find out where their students are
when they come into the process and they must build of the students’ prior knowledge. This will
provide the support that each student needs in order to gain knowledge from the instruction.
Levy defines product as the way students demonstrate what they have learned (p. 162). This is a
Levy points out that the days of grouping students randomly are gone and that grouping
should be based on the needs of the students and the short-term goals of the teacher (p.163). The
author’s article states that some of the theories related to differentiated instruction are related to
ability levels, learning styles, and interest. By grouping students within one of these criteria’s,
the teacher is able to use ongoing, formative assessments to gauge the student’s learning
opportunities.
Levy presented some very solid reasoning about the importance of differentiated
instruction and its effectiveness in meeting the needs of all students. By presenting the
importance of proper grouping and effective assessments, the author shows that teachers will be
able to help their students move forward in their educational path by addressing and teaching
Reference
House, 81(4), 161-164.