Aligning Students’ Strengths with Differentiation Strategies
The Guide for Selecting Differentiation Strategies for Highly Able Learners

Forms

Online Interactive Guides:

Downloadable Guides (printable pdfs):

Remember:
In the ways and to the extent students are similar,
Their curriculum should be similar.
In the ways and to the extent that they are different,
Their curriculum should be different.[2]

The purpose of the Guide for Selecting Differentiation Strategies is to focus and prioritize efforts to differentiate curriculum based on the behaviours that distinguish a student with high ability from her or his agemates when she or he is fully engaged in a learning experience and behaving brilliantly.  In other words, we differentiate future learning activities in ways that we hope will produce more of that behaviour, engagement and learning in the future.  Here you’ll find a brief introduction to the Guide followed by descriptions of the its parts.

The Guide’s role in curriculum differentiation is to recommend a few differentiation strategies for a specific student.  It can be used for and by students in any setting — regular classroom, pullout program, special school, etc.  It provides an individualized, systematic and defensible approach to curriculum differentiation.  It begins with information derived from one or more versions of the Brilliant Behaviours and this provides the focus on the individual.  The process for determining the most recommended differentiation strategies is consistent across individuals providing a systematic means of determining which strategies to use and monitoring their effects.

The Guide’s defensibility lies in its development.  Each X in a “cell” on the chart indicates that the differentiation strategy at the top of the column is recommended for a student who behaves in the manner described in the Brilliant Behaviour described to the left of the X.  The placement of each X was determined by the accumulated research and practical experience of the four authors:  Lannie Kanevsky, June Maker, Aleene Neilson, and Judy Rogers.

The Guide can be completed by the student, their teacher, or parent.  Different forms are provided for each.  The three versions are identical other than the directions which have been tailored to their audiences and the student version uses the self-assessment version of the Brilliant Behaviours.

Brief definitions are provided on the back of the Guide for the curriculum differentiation strategies included on the front of the chart.  More extensive descriptions and examples are available as well as a collection of teaching materials that involve each differentiation strategy.

You may notice the content, process and product differentiation strategies appear in the Guide, but not those related to the learning environment. This is because the effects of these features on the learning of ALL students are believed to be consistent across ability levels.

Like the Brilliant Behaviours, the original version of this chart appeared in Maker and Nielson’s Curriculum Development and Teaching Strategies for Gifted Learners[1].  The versions on this site have been updated based on the research and input from students and teachers.

Like the Brilliant Behaviours that appear in the Guide, the original version of this chart appeared in Maker and Nielson’s Curriculum Development and Teaching Strategies for Gifted Learners[1]. The version provided here has been updated so you may notice differences if you’ve seen earlier versions.

In both the print and online versions of the Guide, the individual completing the form assesses the Brilliant Behaviours.  The student observes (or assesses) her- or himself in the student version.  Separate forms and directions for each are provided on the webpages that describe them and on the form.  Brief definitions for the curriculum differentiation strategies will appear onscreen when the cursor overs over each.  They also appear on the back of the chart when it is printed. More extensive descriptions and examples are provided here as well as a collection of teaching materials that involve each strategy.

Parts of the Guide and Directions

The major elements in all versions of the Guide and how they work are described in the table below.   They can be completed on paper or online.  The print and online versions vary slightly in appearance but work in the same way.  The online version involves less work for the user as it does the calculates the rankings.  Explanations of the parts of the Guides and the process for completing them are provided below.  Some are not in the online version.  They aren’t needed because the website computes the rankings of the differentiation strategies so it’s not necessary.

Student information Enter the student’s name, age, strengths and the date.
Directions Instructions for completing the Guide.
Description of the activity or activities Record the dates and names of the activities observed here.  This appears only on the teacher and parent versions, not the students’.  If more than one activity was observed, record each set of information on separate forms or in different colours on the same form so any differences in the child’s behaviour on the different tasks can be distinguished.
Things you LOVE to learn about This appears only on the students’ version.  The student enters a list of interests, passions and/or favourite school subjects here.
Check or click The observer or student checks ( √ ) the cell (printed version) or clicks the box (online version) to the left of those behaviours that are frequently, intensely, and consistently true of the student while engaged in each activity.
Behaviours These are the Brilliant Behaviours.  There is no cutoff or minimum number of behaviours required, one is sufficient.  When that happens, complete the chart and see what comes up.  It still works.  If you have the opposite situation, where the child demonstrates all of the Brilliant Behaviours, the Guide will recommend all of the differentiation strategies.  This means applying ANY of the differentiation strategies to curriculum will generate lessons more suitable for the student.  You can ask the student’s opinion of the strategies or choose the one that appeals to you most.
Differentiation Strategies Each column heading represents a curriculum differentiation strategy recommended to develop the potentials of high ability students[1].  They are grouped according to the elements of a learning activity in which they are involved: content, process and product.  Brief definitions for each of these strategies are provided on the back of each of the printed Guides.  The same text will be included in the online version when the cursor is placed on the name of the strategy and will appear on the back of the form when it is printed.  Slightly more extensive definitions are provided elsewhere.  A collection of materials and resources involving those differentiation strategies is also available.
X Each X in a “cell” on the chart indicates that the differentiation strategy at the top of the column is recommended for a student who behaves in the manner described in the Brilliant Behaviour described to the left of the X.  The placement of each X was determined by the accumulated research and practical experience of the four authors: Lannie Kanevsky, June Maker, Aleene Neilson, and Judy Rogers.  In the online version, the row of Xs will automatically convert to √s and be highlighted when a Behaviour is clicked.
Number of Xs highlighted in each column Print versions only:  After the Brilliant Behaviours data is recorded in the column to the left of them, the row of Xs to the right of each behaviour which was observed.  Once this is done, attention shifts away from the rows to the columns of Xs.  Looking down each column separately, count the number of Xs which were highlighted.  Ignore those that were not highlighted.  Record the number of Xs highlighted in the empty box above the printed number at the bottom of its column.
Total number of Xs in column Print versions only:  This number indicates the total number of Xs appearing in each column.  These numbers do not change throughout the process; they are there for comparison.  They are used when calculating the proportion of the Xs that were highlighted for the student.  For example, if three Xs were highlighted in the first column for Abstractness, the proportion would be three out of a possible six, or 50%.
Mark the 3 or 4 strategies with the greatest proportion of Xs highlighted Print versions only:  Compare the “Number of Xs highlighted in each column” (recorded two rows above) should be compared to the “Total number of Xs in column” (provided in the row above this one).  Do this by creating proportions or percentages. As mentioned above, if three Xs were highlighted in the first column, for Abstractness, the proportion would be three out of a possible six, or 50%. The 3 or 4 columns (strategies) with the greatest proportion of Xs highlighted are those the Guide is recommending for a student who demonstrates the Brilliant Behaviours you saw when the student was engaged in challenging tasks in an area of strength or interest.  These strategies might all be in one section (content, process, or product) or be spread across all three.  They should be applied to the same subject area as that in which the student was observed.  Descriptions of each curriculum differentiation strategy are provided on the back of the Guide.
Ranking Online versions only:  Each number indicates the ranking for that strategy out of the 22 differentiation strategies included in the Guide.  It is calculated based on the percentage of Xs highlighted in its column as described above–but the computation is done for you.

After the three, four or five most recommended strategies have been identified for an individual, the results can be validated with a quick check. Ask, “Do I think that engaging in activities that involve these strategies would benefit this student?” If the answer is “Yes”, carry on and apply the recommended differentiation strategies.  If the answer is “No”, these can be replaced with the strategies receiving the next highest rankings or proportions.

Expect intra- and inter-individual differences in the strategies the chart recommends (those with the highest proportions, percentages or rankings.

  • Intra-individual differences arise when the strategies recommended for a student in Math differ from those recommended for the same student in Social Studies because her or his behaviour differed on tasks in those subject areas. Both may be areas of great interest and strength but the student engaged in each quite differently. Perhaps she was eager to solve sophisticated Math problems socially with peers but preferred to wrestle with complex historical dilemma in silent contemplation.  Therefore, it’s important to make independent observations in different subject areas.  You can make them on one chart using different colours, or use separate charts.  If you want to use different colours, just record the task descriptions in the same colour as your √s in the “True” column.
  • Inter-individual differences arise when two or more high potential students with strength in the same subject demonstrate different Brilliant Behaviours while engaged in the same task. As a result of those differences, the most recommended strategies will vary as well.




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