Using quantitative data (and receiving training on how to use it effectively) is important because it helps reduce bias. Research has shown that teacher intuition and informal assessments alone do not always accurately capture a student’s academic competence (Eckert & Arbolino, 2005; Timmermans et al., 2016). In one specific example, two groups of teachers rated student ability in math and literacy. The teachers in the treatment group were provided with data and professional development (PD) that addressed how to use assessment to guide instruction, and the control-group teachers received data and PD with a focus only on the implementation of an instructional program (i.e., without a focus on data-driven differentiation). The results revealed that, even with access to student data, the control teachers tended to underestimate the academic competence of students with lower socioeconomic status, especially those enrolled in more affluent schools (Gatlin-Nash et al., 2021). This example illustrates how important it is for teachers to have access to data and receive training on how to use the data to inform instruction. When good data, collected using multiple methods and timepoints, is paired with training, teachers can form a more complete picture of student strengths and needs for instruction planning and differentiation. GROUPING STUDENTS TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION Once teachers have used assessment data to identify areas of need, they can purposefully create (a) small groups of students with similar levels of knowledge and skill (homogeneous groups) to provide instruction that targets their shared areas of need, or (b) small groups of students with differing levels of knowledge and skill (heterogeneous groups) to provide instruction that stretches students with stronger skills to be models or peer tutors and supports students with less skill to be learners. Although this section focuses on grouping students according to similar or divergent levels of knowledge or skill in a literacy domain, teachers can purposefully create homogeneous small groups based on various factors, including student interests, background knowledge, behavioral needs, and motivational levels.
ALIGNING PRACTICE WITH RESEARCH TOPIC PAPER 12
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