Differentiation in Instruction: Changing the Path, Not the Destination
Know the learner before you plan
Differentiation begins with evidence about individual students: reading proficiency, language background, interests, IEP/504 accommodations, and social-emotional needs. The domain rewards candidates who use that evidence to vary content, process, or product while holding the standard constant. Know the vocabulary: scaffold, tiered assignment, flexible grouping, text set, sentence frame, UDL (multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement), and formative assessment used to adjust instruction.
Traps to watch
The biggest trap is lowering the standard instead of changing the route to it. Another is confusing accommodation (a change in access-extended time, audio, glossaries-that leaves the standard intact) with modification (a change in what is expected). Also suspect: answers that equate differentiation with extra credit, more worksheets, or quiet seatwork; answers that assume struggling readers should only read below-grade texts; and answers that ignore extensions for advanced learners.
Rule of thumb
Change the path, not the destination. Ask: does this choice preserve the grade-level skill while removing an unnecessary barrier?
Worked example
Students will write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph about later school start times. One group reads a grade-level article; another reads a shortened version with a glossary and sentence frames; a third analyzes a data table. All three groups write the same CER paragraph, and the rubric is identical. What varied was access, not expectation.