Rigorous learning opportunities, conceptual understanding, increased fluency. These are all underlying goals for mathematics teaching and learning in the 21st century and mathematics teachers are challenged daily to meet these goals with all students, regardless of the students’ prior instructional experiences or current mathematical understandings. To meet these challenges, teachers are expected to be able to facilitate the development of all students’ mathematical content knowledge while supporting the unique learning needs of all students.
In the course, we will discuss the daily challenges of developing all students’ mathematical content knowledge and understating while at the same time attending to each student’s unique needs. Given those learning goals and the unique students’ needs, it goes without question that we need to level the playing field for access and opportunities for success for all students. This equalization is not meant to lessen or reduce the rigor of any learning opportunity, rather it means to create ways in which all students have opportunities to meet and/or exceed learning expectations in mathematics by equalizing assessments, equalizing the classroom environment, equalizing students’ access to the mathematics, and equalizing our instruction.
One way to reach this level of equalization is through finding ways to effectively, efficiently, and seamlessly integrate methods of differentiation into all aspects of teaching and learning. While the concept and practice of differentiation is not something new, what we will focus specifically on throughout this course is utilizing differentiation to bring about the equalization of teaching and learning mathematics for all students.
The focus of this course is intended to provide specific strategies, techniques, and resources for teachers to effectively differentiate instruction to equalize the mathematics teaching and learning in their classroom, thus supporting mathematics achievement for all.
This course is divided into the following modules:
- Equalization through Differentiation
- Equalizing Mathematics Assessments
- Equalizing the Environment
- Equalizing Access