Every student learns at their own pace. One benefit of standards-based learning (SBL) is that teachers can adapt instruction to student learning, using formative assessment data to provide more relevant coursework based on student mastery. Students with little mastery of a learning target may be assigned introductory lessons, while students with greater understanding can be given increasingly advanced instruction. This in turn allows each student a more individualized learning experience, one that speeds learning and increases engagement.
As such, we have added a tool that will allow our teachers to create differentiated assignments based on student mastery level. When creating an assignment, teachers select a learning target and a grading scale level(s). Students with the selected mastery are given that assignment. This can be done repeatedly to build a varied set of assignments to meet all students’ needs.
Some features of our differentiated learning:
- The differentiation option is easily accessible. On the Create Assignment page, the instructor just needs to select one or more learning targets being assessed, then choose the “Assign to Selected Students Only” option.
- The Create Differentiated Assignment button allows the creation of multiple assignments at once, although instructor can still use the original Create Assignment button to create one at a time.
- Instructors have the option to include formative assessments when calculating the mastery score. If this option is not selected, only summative assessments will be counted.
- The student selector color codes students based on their current level of mastery of the learning target
- Selection of students can always be manually adjusted
- Instructors may select students based on their scores for a different learning target from the one being assessed in that assigned