Reasons for Optimism About Differentiation

1) Drawing from theory and research, how would you rationalize (maybe to another
teacher, a parent, etc.) using differentiated instruction in a classroom?

Many researchers have suggested that students perform best when given a moderate amount of challenge in the classroom. Vygotsky proposes the idea of the "zone of proximal development" in which students need some help to complete the assigned task. According to Vygotsky, students perform best when instruction is in the "zone of proximal development." Studies have also shown that students learn best when they're success rate on assignments is approximately 80%, which is in support of Vygotsky's theory. By using differentiation in the classroom, teachers can teach all students at their individual levels of maximum growth potential. If you simply teach at the level that most of the class is comfortable with, some students are receiving far too much challenge, and others are receiving no challenge at all. These students on the high and low end of the ability spectrum will not experience as much growth in the non-differentiated classroom.

2) Within the differentiated model, where do you feel more research is needed?
Why?

I would like to see more research in the realm of interest differentiation. No quantitative data on the results of interest differentiation was offered in the article. It seems as though interest differentiation would be the most difficult to implement in the classroom, and it's important that we gather as much data on its effectiveness as possible in order to make it worthwhile for teachers.