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Standard #3
Diversity and Differentiation

Robin Kornfield

School of Education, University of Alaska Southeast

ED698 Master’s Portfolio

Dr. Beth Hartley

March 12, 2023

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Standard #3
Diversity and Differentiation

The teacher demonstrates an understanding of individual differences and diverse

cultures in their community in order to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable
each learner to meet high standards. The teacher interacts with parents and local
communities to identify resources that can be used to increase relevancy and learner
engagement. The teacher adapts instruction and uses modified materials, resources, tools,
and technology to address exceptional learner needs, including those associated with
disabilities and giftedness.
The topic of diversity in education is broad. The term diversity refers to the range of

differences students bring to the classroom including their culture, race, ethnicity, gender,

language, social status, religion, abilities, exceptionalities, and more. Students also bring

preferred learning styles. Some students learn visually, others learn by listening, and some do

best when the learning is tactile, or hands-on (Slavin, 2018). While teacher intention is to design

lessons that effectively reach all students, they are particularly challenged when their students

must not only learn math, literacy, science, and social studies, but they also must learn in

English, which for thousands of students in the Anchorage School District (ASD) is a foreign

language.

Ethnicity and language are what first come to my mind when thinking about diversity in

Anchorage classrooms. According to the ASD Race and Ethnicity Report (asdk-12.org, 2023),

59 percent of the student body is non-white, and while 80 percent of families speak English,

5400 students are served in their English Language Learners (ELL) program by 200 ELL staff

(asdk12.org). I believe there is strength in diversity, and I share the opinion cited in the ASD web

site, “A diverse student population provides students the ability to interact with peers from many

different backgrounds, expanding their knowledge of other cultures and preparing for life in a

global society.” (asdk12.org).

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My student teaching classroom of 26 students in the 4th grade included people who speak

English, Filipino, Croatian, Polish, and Spanish and several students who are exposed to Alaska

Native language at home. Five of the more advanced students in the class, despite coming from

recent immigrant families, are among the seven students who attended the school district’s Ignite

program for gifted students. Students in this class worked well together, formed close

friendships, and were assessed to have grown as learners during the time we spent together.

In addition to the 4th grade mainstream classroom where I student taught, I spent some

time teaching and observing in an “Inclusion Class,” which is a special program for 3rd and 4th

graders who perform at a lower level for various reasons including ELL status. I also observed

two Kindergarten classes with newcomer students who did not speak English.

I have attached an artifact https://robinkornfieldportfolio.weebly.com/diversity--

differentiation-artifact.html, which is a report about my observation of SR, an 8-year-old ELL

girl. SR speaks Filipino at home and has slowly been acquiring English language since beginning

Kindergarten four years ago at this same school. SR has an IEP for speech and language

impairment. The class does have an aide, but SR does not have the support of a dedicated tutor or

ELL specialist. In third grade this year, SR continues to struggle with verbal skills, but her

teacher says she is beginning to catch on and her class participation has improved. I was

particularly impressed in my observation of this teacher’s skill as she accommodated each

child’s special needs while making very good progress on curriculum expectations.

The Inclusion teacher warmly greeted students at the door. Students solved a math flash

card, chosen to match the individual’s learning level, before entering. An assignment was already

posted on the whiteboard at the start of the class and nearly everyone got right to work. A

reward system of chips that students eagerly collected encouraged them to stay on task,
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participate in discussions, and to do their best work. At the end of the day, students counted their

chips and received a small prize.

Students were on task throughout my entire observation with little down time. When they

were done with their assigned math problems, they created their own problems and passed them

to be solved by other students. There were short conversations with these exchanges, giving an

opportunity to practice language skills between peers. Larry Ferlazzo in his education blog site

recommends finding ways for students to talk to one another in a safe environment such as the

short exchange I witnessed (Ferlazzo, 2019). SR successfully completed the problems relating to

rounding and demonstrated for other students how she used place value blocks to add two

numbers. Having finished her work early, she asked the teacher if she could help other students.

SR offered to help a boy who had not completed his work yet. The boy didn’t appear to need her

help and she moved off task and began a conversation with another student and sang a song.

Academic language instruction began in the Inclusion class with daily visits to the board

to discuss the calendar, the weather, and the learning schedule for the day. The words “drizzle”

and “stormy” were defined. During reading class, the teacher introduced vocabulary words and

asked students to repeat after her. SR seemed to be listening but did not attempt the word. She

did respond, “To do really well,” when she was asked what “confident” meant. When asked to

join in a discussion with tablemates about a character in a story, SR did participate. As the lesson

continued, she began to respond and helped define the meaning of phrases and individual words,

confirming the teacher’s assessment that her English comprehension is coming along well.

Gail Tompkins wrote in Literacy for the 21st Century (2017) that explicit instruction of

vocabulary is required for English learners. She recommends that teachers spend time on

unfamiliar academic vocabulary related to subject matter. Math, she points out, has its own
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language and uses terms like sum, factor, quotient, and divide. Literature also has special words

like paragraph, quotation marks, vowel, and exclamation point (Tompkins, 2017). The inclusion

teacher said that all her students, not just the English language learners, benefit from more time

spent on vocabulary.

I observed excellent modeling of the teaching style for English language learners

recommended by Echevarría and Graves (2017). “All teachers are language teachers,” (p. 73)

according to Echevarría and Graves and effective teachers spend time defining and incorporating

academic language into their lessons. The teacher provided explicit instruction at a relaxed pace.

She spent considerable time on math vocabulary, using and explaining the word “sum” and that

“in all” means the objective is to add two numbers. She also defined the word, “combined”, and

made sure all students understood the new material. Students chose their own problem-solving

methods and engaged in conversation with other students about their approach. I observed wide

participation in the discussion around the text they were reading, extended thinking time, and an

offer of multiple approaches to a problem. She taught the identical curriculum as the higher-

testing classroom but accommodated the range of needs in her class. SR’s teacher appears to me

to be very well trained in her role of teaching to multiple learning levels and SR appears to be in

a great place for continuing her English and academic language learning. SR will have the

opportunity to move to the mainstream class when she is ready.

The third and fourth grade teachers in the school where I student-taught met weekly to

discuss progress among students and to coordinate upcoming activities. All students in the school

participate in leveled phonics instruction with levels determined through fall and spring

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing. The teachers kept a close eye on students who

seemed borderline between levels. My observation student, SR, was one of the students who was
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moved from the lowest level in her grade group to the next higher level. These teachers used the

standard system-wide MAP assessments to guide them while also paying close attention to the

daily formative assessment opportunities during daily lessons.

I have found in my short-term assignments as a substitute teacher that it is not always

easy to assess special needs when I do not have a relationship with the students. It helps that I

have now worked in the same classes multiple times. There is a huge demand for substitute

teachers to supplement the teaching staff and I have worked with the full range of elementary

students from pre-school through the eighth grade. The most effective teaching environment for

me is when classes are well structured with big ideas and daily goals posted. I prefer assigned

work that can be accomplished in one period so I can assess both the student work and my own

effectiveness. It is most helpful when the permanent teacher identifies students that require more

attention, which often include those who are ELL, and those students who would benefit from

working at the teacher’s desk in a small group. I often am asked if it is okay to sit on the floor or

at a different seat than assigned, and I appreciate it when the classroom teacher gives me clear

direction.

Tomlinson and McTighe (2006). recommend the use of Understanding by Design (UbD )

in working in differentiated classrooms. The backward design program template they

recommend enables the teacher to make sure lessons are intentionally planned to address

students’ backgrounds, prior knowledge, abilities, interests, and preferences. Options for creating

a responsive classroom that effectively addresses learner needs are charted by Tomlinson and

McTighe (2006). Both students and the teacher benefit from flexible learning opportunities that

are defined through the pre-assessment process. The instructor may offer advanced learning

opportunities for the students with prior knowledge, and she may offer visual, auditory and
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tactile learners multiple choices for learning the information and demonstrating their knowledge.

Pre-assessment also identifies other needs such as more vocabulary time or small group activities

benefiting multiple diversities including ELL. Application of these principals is seen in the UbD

teaching plan for my Teacher Work Product. I offered accommodations for differing learning

styles such as the benefit to the visual learner who could use a banner in the room to see the

intended result of the assignment. Graphic organizers were also used to help make the

information easily understandable for all students. Cooperative learning opportunities between

students were of benefit to both the student who needed scaffolding and the student who

reinforced his learning by teaching.

For the ELL student, achieving academic success in a foreign language is not easy, but in

my 4th grade mainstream class there were several ELL students achieving at high academic

levels despite starting school with little or no English. The third grade teacher I observed, who

engaged her ELL students in academic conversation, follows the recommendations of researcher

Ferlazzo (2019), who, as an ELL student himself, had the impression that it was his job to listen

rather than speak in the classroom. He recommends that teachers resist being the primary talkers

and encourage conversation between students. It is effective to model for the students what real

conversation sounds like, and he also recommends slowing down and giving students time for

processing. “Wait time is important for ELs because it allows for processing, translating, and

building bravery to answer,” Ferlazzo wrote.

SR, my ELL observation student, listened intently as her teacher read to the

class and then timidly began to participate in the discussion. Her teacher gave her

five seconds to think before expressing her thoughts, as is suggested by Ferlazzo

(2019.) I would love to track my observation student, SR, over several years. My
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time with her was short however, and I can only wish her the best as she continues

her education.

As mentioned in this framing statement Anchorage schools are among the most

ethnically diverse in the nation. Kiana, the remote northwest Alaska village where I spent part of

the year as a child and young adult, and where I spent several months observing and teaching

classes for my practicum program, is not ethnically diverse. All but one student in the school was

Iñupiaq when I was there in my practicum. All but one of the teachers, however, came from

places outside of Alaska, and life in this remote village is culturally very different from the life

experience of most teachers. Non-verbal communication, such as lifting the eyebrows when

saying “yes,” or wrinkling the nose to indicate “no” takes some getting used to when teachers

first arrive in Kiana.

The language spoken in the village is closer today to standard English than it was when I

was growing up, when most people spoke a mix of English and Iñupiaq, but there is a difference

between the academic language students are exposed to in school when compared with the

language used at home. In Anchorage the students might be tutored by EL specialists, but these

services are rarely available in rural schools.

My plan is to teach in Kiana, and I anticipate continual skill building on my part when

students have special needs related to hearing, vision, trauma, and speech, all of which I noticed

during my practicum observations. I have been exposed to rural culture, however, and I am

hoping my cultural background proves to be an asset.

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References

Anchorage School District (2023). Educating All Students for Success in Life. asdk12.org.

Echevarría J., & Graves A. (2015). Sheltered content instruction: Teaching English learners with

diverse abilities. Pearson

Ferlazzo, L. (2019). Ways to build speaking skills with ELLs. Education Week blog.

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-response-ways-to-build-speaking-

skills-with-ells/2019/01

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for

understanding and engagement (2nd ed.). Stenhouse.

Slavin, R.E. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. (12th.ed.) Pearson

Publishing.

Soto I. (2012). ELL shadowing as a catalyst for change. Corwin.

Tomlinson C., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and understanding by

design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.