Differentiated Instruction is responsive to the varied needs of learners; based on solid understanding of how teaching and learning occur

Differentiated Instruction [DI] is a component of the Hilton CSD Instructional Framework and it serves as a major initiative to address student variation in terms of academic readiness, student interest and learning profiles.  DI is considered an education 'best practice' and is supported by Hilton CSD Offices of Instruction and Staff Development.  To differentiate instruction is to recognize students' varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning and interests; and to react responsively.  Differentiated Instruction is a process of teaching and learning for students of differing abilities in the same class.  The intent of differentiating instruction is to maximize each student's growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is and assisting in the learning process.

"Differentiated teaching is responsive teaching.  It stems from a teacher's solid understanding of how teaching and learning occurs and it responds to varied learners' needs for more structure or more independence, more practice or greater challenge, a more active or less active approach to learning.  Teachers who differentiate instruction are quite aware of the scope and sequence of curriculum prescribed by the State, the District and the school.  They are also aware that the students in their classrooms begin each school year spread out along a continuum of understanding and skill.  The teachers' goal is to maximize the capacity of each learner by teaching in ways that help all learners bridge gaps in understanding and skill." -- Tomlinson and Edison 2003

Through 2009 the Hilton Central School District offered several Differentiated Instruction Summer Institutes with the Spencerport Central School District.  Teachers and presenters explored the design of high-quality instructional practices using standards-based criteria and attributes.  Participants learned about the instructional design teachers use to address varying levels within the classroom.  The conferences featured nationally-recognized presenters in the field of differentiated learning and numerous K-12 educators and practitioners who shared how they use differentiation in the classroom.

Presenters who have visited the Hilton School District : Kristina Doubet, Ed.D, Assistant Professor of Education James Madison University and co-author with Carol Tomlinson of Smart in the Middle: Classrooms that Work for Bright Middle Schoolers. Tonya Moon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor University of Virginia's Curry School of Education;   Carol Ann Tomlinson, Ed.D., Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education and principal investigator for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented .

What is differentiated instruction? 

Making a Difference: Carol Ann Tomlinson explains how differentiated instruction works and why we need it now.  By Anthony Rebora, EdWeek

Hilton CSD Staff Development  

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