Differentiated Instruction - Research Paper Example

With the coming into implementation of the plan instruction and, assessment and curriculum for education in the school district has been aligned to this. I am currently serving as a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School a position I have held for the last seven years. The school has a population of about seven hundred students, in preparatory school through to the seventh grade. Each level has three classes which have a team led by a team leader (Cusumano &Mueller, 2007). Instructional support is offered by a psychologist employed by the school on full time basis, a rereading consultant for the reading program, special education program which is staffed with gifted and talented teacher. In 2010 the school district put into action a balanced literacy program intended to align every school standards with those of the state (Cifuentes, &Ozel, 2006). While this program has been successfully implemented in terms of curriculum and instructional support, Hillcrest Elementary School still has the lowest rate of literacy especially in reading with approximately 35% of the learners scoring minimal and basic scores in the sixth grade WKCE. Description of Objectives To improve proficiency in the implementation of a balanced literacy program in my classroom placing significant emphasis on instructed reading so as to enhance learner achievement aligned to school benchmarks, while at the same time enhancing enjoyment and interest in reading (Lawrence-Brown, 2004). Rationale for the Objectives and the Connection to Self Reflection, Educational Situation, and Standards The school district has been engaged in the implementation of a balanced literacy framework that covers the seven schools in the district. Greater emphasis has been placed upon the training and implementation of writers’ workshop, guided reading and supplementary literacy initiatives incorporated into all K-5 classrooms (Levy, 2008). Hillcrest Elementary School has set benchmarks of the improvement of writing and reading which is based upon school performance data. In my reflection I determined that there was a need to take into account best practices in reading instruction. I recognized a need to acquire more skills in the employment of guided strategies for reading which took into account and focused upon specific needs of individual students (Zmuda, Kuklis, & Kline, 2004). In the past my teaching was primarily targeted at the class as a whole which resulted in a feeling that there was a discrepancy since the high performers felt underworked while the low achievers felt overburdened. An analysis of student performance has portrayed that the low achievers show little improvement while the high achievers many a time complain of a lack of interest in learning as a result of the content not being challenging enough (Gibson, & Hasbrouck, 2008). Plan for Documenting and Assessing Achievement of Objectives I will employ instructed reading in a gradual manner in order to evaluate the progression of student achievement towards proficiency that is aligned to certain grades. Achievement will also be evaluated according to DRA benchmark evaluations administered at the beginning and end of the year. In order to evaluate enjoyment of reading and enhancement of interest, I will ...Show more