Differentiated Instruction and Assessment

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach in which a teacher designs curriculum (i.e., what to teach) and instruction (i.e., how to teach) based on children’s interests, developmental readiness, and learning needs. A teacher who adopts differentiated instruction as her teaching philosophy authentically assesses children’s current knowledge and skill level, sociocultural background, and [Page 417]special learning needs. Teachers use this information to plan learning experiences that would optimally challenge and elevate children to a higher level of ability and understanding.

This entry aims to inform the reader about differentiated instruction and assessment in the early childhood education context and to provide a concrete description of this approach and its implementation steps pertaining to education of young children. The entry begins with explaining the definitions of differentiated instruction ...