... as long I establish that differentiation is absolutely necessary.
You may have read this elsewhere on the forums, and it's important to know that differentiation is a
buzzword which only means
something is different: the advanced students may be required to twiddle their thumbs, mark time, march in place, tread water, or other catch phrases which indicate
busy work with
no real intellectual challenge or moving forward with measurable academic learning gains.
With "differentiation" the pupil's school experience is
somehow different, but this term is sufficiently nebulous as to what is "different" for the student's educational experience. Too often the difference may be in work-products expected (
differentiated task demands), possibly including more stringent
grading criteria, rather than a qualitatively different instructional level and pacing.
In general, gifted kids and advanced learners need and may benefit from "differentiated
instruction", not "differentiated
task demands".
As tedious as it may be, I encourage parents to look beyond
buzzwords and learn the
5Ws of any gifted program or offering, in order to understand what their child will experience (and proactively assess it's potential positive or detrimental effects).
