In what ways does differentiation

impact assessments of students in an

elementary school classroom?

Differentiation
"[R]efers to a wide variety of
teaching techniques and lesson
adaptations that educators use to
instruct a diverse group of
students, with diverse learning
needs, in the same course,
classroom, or learning environment.
"
Assessment
"[R]efers to the wide variety of
methods or tools that educators
use to evaluate, measure, and
document the academic
readiness, learning progress, skill
acquisition, or educational needs
of students."

(Edglossary.org, 2013) (Edglossary.org, 2013)

"Students are diverse in their skills,

prior knowledge and understanding
which, in turn, affect the pace at
which they comprehend new contents
and demonstrate their learning"
(Kaur 2019)

Concerns with doing differentiated assessment

The concerns with being able to do differentiated assessment are that
there is a lack of time, resources, and feeling unprepared.
In a 7 hour school day students must learn science, social studies, physical
education, math, language arts, and option classes. This leaves an hour for
each topic, which is not long enough to always support all students equally.
Although some schools have extra resources and supports, other schools
do not have these available to him, and so adjusting instruction or
assessment does not always feel viable.
Lastly, teachers do not feel sufficiently trained to work with the diversity
that is present in schools currently.

Vision
Prior to implementing differentiated instruction and
assessment it is important for teachers to develop
a vision. They will need to create a philosophical
vision and a practical vision.
Philosophical Vision: What you want to do and
achieve for the lessons.
Practical Vision: Addressing the concerns and
(Dack 2019) what instructional choices you need to make.
 How do you
differentiate
assessment?

What differentiation What assessents can

can we do? we do?
Timer
Small Group work (thinking Oral assessments

classroom) Building and exploring

Visuals during lessons activities

Alternate seating Student decided product

Headphones

Key information:
Key information: Assessment can be the same

The differentiation depends on for all students even with

the activity and what is being differentiated instruction.

assessed. The assessment depends on

Not all differentiations will work the activity and what is being

with all students. differentiated.

How do we know when to differentiate?

Before we begin to differentiate we need to know
about the students.
We have to know:
Who they are
How they learn
If they have a learning or a physical disability
Their socio-economic status
What their prior learning experiences have
been like
What their prior knowledge is on a specific
subject
Know if they have an ISP

Why differentiation?
“[A]s teachers learn and practice various teaching
strategies, they expand the possibilities for weaving rich,
authentic lessons that are responsive to all students’ needs
... the adherence to a single approach will create an
instructional situation that will leave some students
unraveled and on the fringe. “
(Kaur 2019, pg 2)

Assessment Examples
Quizzes and Polls
Interviews
Exit Questions
Reflective Writing
Big Group questioning
Presentations
Four corners
Think Pair Share
3-2-1
 Resources
A. (2013, November 7). Differentiation Definition. The
Glossary of Education Reform.
https://www.edglossary.org/differentiation/

A Formative Evaluation of Differentiation Practices in

Elementary Cluster Classrooms. (2020, July 1).
EBSCOhost. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from
https://web-p-ebscohost-
com.ezproxy.uleth.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=0&sid=54786e74-7ed9-4582-8884-
4044bd01b87d%40redis

A Longitudinal Multicase Study of Preservice and

Beginning Elementary Teachers. (2019, September 1).
EBSCOhost. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from
https://web-p-ebscohost-
com.ezproxy.uleth.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=0&sid=14b48a83-b907-413a-8b8d-
aac98736c9e3%40redis

Kaur, A., Noman, M., & Awang-Hashim, R. (2019).

Exploring and evaluating differentiated assessment
practices of in-service teachers for components of
differentiation. Teaching Education, 30(2), 160–176.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1455084

S. (2015, November 10). Assessment Definition. The

Glossary of Education Reform.
https://www.edglossary.org/assessment/

Welcome | Teach Special Education. (n.d.).

https://www.teachspeced.ca/node/1