DIFFERENTIATING FOR STUDENT READINESS AND INTEREST 2

Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest

Diversity among students is caused by many factors that make each student different
from another. Every student’s brain is uniquely developed, and thus each student has a unique
way of understanding content taught to them in class. Likewise, student readiness and interest
affect the way in which a student learns a particular content at a given time. Interest and
readiness are affected by things such as “A student’s past school experiences, home
opportunities, support systems, emotional state, and personal strengths and weaknesses” (Sousa
& Tomlinson, 2011). Such factors can propel a learner forward and facilitate learning, or they
can hinder learning by holding a student back. At some point, a teacher may not be in a position
to control these factors. However, when a teacher has a clear sense of the status of the student, he
or she can take the necessary action to assist the learner achieve more. Failure by the teacher to
attend to readiness needs of each student, as well as the interests of each student at a particular
time, has a high likelihood of decreasing the outcomes of a strong student (Hall, 2002).
Addressing readiness and interest matters of each student maximizes learning outcomes.
In the scenario provided, Mary has a good comprehension of the topic of study. Thus, in
differentiating readiness that is based on content, process and product, my role as a teacher will
be more about bridge building. I will fine-tune, clarify a point of confusion, and provide more
work to add on what Mary already knows. According to Sousa and Tomlinson (2011), “students
who already demonstrate competence with the required content, the goal of the teacher is to build
bridges to substantive advanced learning so that they can advance their development”. Thus, I
will provide Mary with a website link that contains more sophisticated content on atoms. I will
also guide her on specific pages of a book that will provide detailed content that Mary can
understand on her own, or content that will challenge her enough to either ask questions or do

DIFFERENTIATING FOR STUDENT READINESS AND INTEREST 3
further research. The aim will be to ensure that Mary develops sound footing on Atoms and that
she learns new material on top of what she already knows concerning the topic. In assessing
Mary, I will prepare her worksheets consisting of questions on Atoms, so that I can understand
what she already knows about the topic. Later, I will also provide her with written questions
based on content from the website and the book. these will be used to assess her new level of
understanding after the lesson.
Davion, on the other hand, has the ability to learn the topic on Atoms but is less
interested in studying the topic because he does not like science. For Davion, readiness
differentiation will entail more in terms of building a bridge and helping him learn and gain
interest in the topic. In delivering content, I will make use of demonstrations, so that Davion can
see how to apply content learnt and make sense of an abstract idea. In differentiating the process,
I will decrease the difficulty of the task while ensuring that I hold steady the desired outcomes. I
will provide less complex resources, a website and a book that Davion will use for independent
study to further foster his understanding. In assessing Davion, I will provide more contact by
regularly checking on him since he could have difficulty understanding science-related content. I
will ask Davion to set goals that will further facilitate learning of the topic. I will then use
formative assessment at the end of the unit and check with Davion to evaluate the degree with
which he will have achieved his goals. Additional assistance will be provided in case goals will
not have been achieved.
Differentiation will allow the teacher to consider a wide variety of choices for supporting
the development of learners whose interest and readiness levels vary (Sousa & Tomlinson,
2011). I chose complex content for Mary, whose reediness and interest levels are already high.
This is because she already understands basic concepts on the topic of Atoms, and thus teaching

DIFFERENTIATING FOR STUDENT READINESS AND INTEREST 4
her what she already knows will make her feel bored because she will not be learning anything
new. On the other hand, Davion is not on the same readiness and interest levels as Mary.
Therefore, introducing complex content to him while he does not understand the basic concepts
related to Atoms will make him lose interest more. He will have more reasons to dislike science
and will even start to believe that the subject is complicated. Also, the process through which he
will come to own what he should know, understand, as well as what he can do is much slower
compared to Mary’s because the two students are not on the same readiness levels. As Sousa &
Tomlinson (2011) states, one of the ways through which a process is differentiated is “increasing
or decreasing the complexity of the task while holding steady the desired outcomes”. I increase
complexity for Mary while decreasing it for Davion because they are not at the same level. I plan
on doing the same for the rest of the students based on the level that each one of them is after
doing a preassessment. Overall, differentiation ensures that each student learns based on his or
her readiness and interest levels.

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References

Hall, T. (2002). Differentiated instruction. Wakefield, MA: National Center on.
Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience
supports the learner-friendly classroom. Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com/