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Differentiation in Education
Today, I would like to talk about one of the ways education is evolving with contemporary culture. Forty years ago, the road to a great education was straight and narrow. This is still a great road for some, but now, education offers more options. Students still visit the same required destinations, but student may different paths to get there. This focus on giving students an education that custom fits their needs is called “differentiation.”
When I was growing up in the seventies, Coca-Cola had an ad campaign that went like this: “I’d like to give the world a Coke, and keep it company.” This jingle suggests the modernist notion that everyone would be satisfied with the same product. The way students were taught in schools was similar- one size fit everyone. Today, the same drink is advertized with a very different, complementary idea that now, every person can now have their an individualized can of Coke with their own name on it. This is how differentiation plays out in advertising. Recognizing and addressing individuals’ needs is a part of a postmodernist trend that is taking culture by storm. Today, I would like to share with you the ways in which the idea of differentiation has shaped education.
My name is Stewart Brann. For eight years I taught science to students with learning issues. I have taught students with ADD/ADHD, students with mild learning disabilities, African refugees, religiously restricted Ukrainian immigrants, urban youth, children who had been home schooled, and students who had been out of school for medical reasons. Each needed something different from school- they had special needs. The thing they did have in common was the desire to fit in and be liked by their classmates. Most of the kids that passed through my classroom did not to go to college after high school, but I am sure that they went somewhere.
During these eight years, I taught grades six through twelve and received three grants to improve science programs- including a Loveday Grant from the Georgia Independent School Association. A large part of what I did as a teacher was about fulfilling specific expectations “The Georgia Performance Standards“ outline the content requirements that all students learn to pass to the next grade. Textbooks are written to cover the standards and teachers use these books to structure their lessons. This way of learning is successful for many students.
I am here to talk about the students for whom these books do not work so well. My class sizes have varied from two to twelve. In 2007, Senate Bill 10 was signed to empower parents who feel like their child is not being served at a public school to find or to create alternative solutions to their students’ education. Most of the schools where I taught were created to accommodate students for whom the public schools had difficulty serving. Senate Bill 10 represents a collective realization that the shape of education is changing.

My Direction
Differentiation is “development from the one to the many, the simple to the complex, or the homogeneous to the heterogeneous.” In this case, I am talking about education shifting from straight, narrow and to varied and wide.
Today, I would like to discuss three ways that differentiation is changing the way students learn in school and one offer one suggestion:
1) Schools should help new teachers more, much more.
2) Resources should be developed for all students.
3) Students should have multiple ways to exit high school.
Suggestion: The mission statement of education should be reconsidered.

Teaching teachers how to differentiate
Like most teachers, part of why I decided to teach was because I enjoyed school and was successful at it. I naively assumed that all of my students would share these feelings. Shortly after beginning my first job, I found that I would have to teach differently than my teachers taught me. My teachers gave us a forty-five minute lecture then told us to read about it that night then answer some homework questions. I found that I had to, first, figure out what my students knew about a topic, then, do an demonstration or experiment, talk about the pictures in the book, paraphrase the book, find more pictures on the internet, tell a story about my personal experience with the topic, have a discussion listing the main point. I had to approach each topic from multiple perspectives to be sure that everyone understood. To assess their understanding I had them write and draw pictures in their journals. I often had to ask students to tell me about what they had written and drawn. I learned about this method but it took me several years of trial and error to learn how to do this well.
Learning about how to “differentiate” is different than knowing how to do it. Presidentially recognized educator Katherine Mitchell suggests that schools could better facilitate this process by designating “master teachers” who are paid extra to model their differentiation methods to new teachers while working through an apprenticeship of learning how to best address the variety of student needs at that school. For a teacher, understanding what to teach is important, but learning how to differentiate teaching at each school is critical. If schools helped teachers out more during the first year, fewer would leave the profession and students would be better served.

Differentiate teacher resources
At the beginning of each school year, I was given textbooks that were “grade appropriate” instructed to modify the content to present to my students in a way that they would understand. This method proved to be a time consuming, awkward method of resolving the issue that my students learned differently than traditional students. One of the best ways to help teachers differentiate is to increase the quality and variety of teacher resources. Thanks to teachers who publish their materials online, this has started at a grass roots level.
The books that I studied when I was in high school were designed for proficient readers and went deep into concepts through words. Most of my students did not like reading and learned best from pictures, videos, games, demonstrations and activities. It was through a breadth of diverse materials that they would eventually come to an understanding of the concepts. I asked the kids for how they wanted their education and usually tried my best to give it to them. I gave my students a choice in how they learn and gave them options in the way they were assessed. There are many ways to differentiate students’ learning styles and words are not for everyone.

Differentiating how students exit high school
Nationally, the focus of education has been on college bound students and succeeded in sending more students into higher education. “According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the national average of students going to college has increased from 23 percent in 1990 to 34 percent in 2014.”1- 11% increase over the past 24 years. “The percentage of students who had completed a master's or higher degree increased from 5 percent in 1995 to 8 percent in 2014.”1- 3% increase in the last 19 years. The U.S Census reports that 27.1 % of Georgians over 25 have college degrees, which is close to the national average of 28.5%2.
This presentation is about the other 71.5%. This majority of students will spend their high school career preparing for a race they may never run. Education’s focus on college bound students comes at a cost to the majority of students who will graduate unprepared for the next phase of their lives.
Some things to think about:
Who pays for education? The taxpayer, the community
Who benefits from preparing students for college? Colleges, businesses
How should we prepare the 71.5% of students who will not earn college degrees for the next phase of their lives?
There should be more ways to exit high school.
Perhaps students could earn a certificate in their chosen field, better prepared to find a job. A college degree may be a good goal for many students, but every student needs to have achievable goals. The way to create student engagement is by differentiating the ways students exit high school. The primary responsibility of the education system is give students the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to continue the life-long journey of educating themselves.

Suggestion- Change the Mission Statement
The Mission of Atlanta Public Schools is, “With a caring culture of trust and collaboration, every student will graduate ready for college and career.” When most students fail to achieve the dream of going to college, this mission statement is clearly unrealistic. With other viable ways to exit high school, students could complete high school with alternative credentials. A more appropriate mission statement might not include every student graduating and would change and to “ready for the college or career.”

Why is the idea of differentiation poignant?
Another powerful idea that is gaining momentum nationally is the Common Core. This is a unified set of guidelines that will raise standards and make it easier for national and international academic comparisons to be made. Significant Federal education funding has accompanied Georgia’s recent decision to adopt of the Common Core. In many ways, the Common Core is incompatible with differentiated instruction because it insists on one size that fits all. The Common Core Standards assessment will not have an equivalency test for students with special needs.
The idea of differentiation is currently having a profound effect on the way education is being shaped. The importance of recognizing similarities while addressing individual traits is not a new idea. The American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead expressed this concept succinctly, “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”

Education’s most formidable challenge is to honor this delicate balance.
Thank you.

If anyone finds a “Stewart” Coke can, please get it for me.
Questions?

1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). The Condition of Education 2015 (NCES 2015–144), Educational Attainment. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=27
2. U.S. Census Bureau,
Table 225, Statistical Abstract of the United States. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank19.html