Annotated Review

Annotated Review of Literature

Annotated Review of Literature to Support how Differentiated Instruction Workshops can Improve Instruction
Hawkins, V. (2009). Barriers to implementing differentiation: Lack of confidence, efficacy and perseverance. The New England Reading Association Journal, 44(2), 11-16. Retrieved from Education Full Text database.
Annotation: In this article, Hawkins exposes three major reasons why implementing differentiated instruction (DI) if a difficult task for most teachers. Hawkins states that districts advocate for professional development of DI as a reactive response to current data trends in education. The goal of this article is to provide classroom teachers with the necessary skills to be able to implement
DI into their curriculum. The researcher found that a lack of teacher confidence, lack of teacher efficacy, and a lack of perseverance are three factors in which teachers most often struggle with when trying to differentiate lessons.
Support for Project: This article gives important information for teachers on how to overcome the barriers of implementing effective DI into their curriculum. So many of us face the same problems when trying to differentiate our lessons, therefore, it is important for teachers to understand how to overcome these barriers and also to understand that they are not alone in this daunting task. Hawkins goes on to describe each barrier in detail to help teachers overcome them so they can become effective DI instructors.
Tomlinson, Carol Ann.
Carol Ann Tomlinson explains how differentiated instruction works and why we need it now. Making A Difference, September 2007.
Annotation: In this article, Carol Ann Tomlinson, who is a leader in the field of education on Differentiated Instruction, explains what DI is, why it is so important in education today, as well as in the future, and the characteristics of an effective differentiated classroom. Tomlinson also reviews some key points that teachers need to think about when developing a differentiated lesson plan. The researcher goes on to explain that the reason DI is so important is that students vary in so many ways, and our student populations are becoming more and more academically diverse.
Support for Project: This article is important for my project because the researcher explains how to deal with student differences. Today’s classrooms are so diverse and teachers need to know how to deal with these differences on a daily basis. Tomlinson states that there are three ways to deal with differences: ignore them, separate or “track” them, or keep students together in the context of high-quality curriculum (differentiated instruction). Obviously the third one should be the way to go, but unfortunately, it is the road least traveled. This article also describes the characteristics of a well-run DI classroom and what teachers need to do in order to be successful when creating differentiated lessons to improve
instruction.
Tomlinson, C.
(2005). Traveling the road to differentiation in staff development. Journal of Staff Development, 26(4), 8-12. Retrieved from Education Full Text database.
Annotation: In this article, Tomlinson explains how teacher leaders can help educators hurdle four key barriers teachers face when trying to implement DI into their classrooms. The researcher describes the need for DI in the United States education system and also reviews six strategies of effective differentiation. Tomlinson goes over current research findings about student achievement and differentiation in response to readiness, interest, and learning profiles.
Support for Project: This article is important for my project because when trying to convince educators to change their way of thinking and pedagogical practices, you must have solid evidence that the new practice; in this case, DI, will work. This article goes over the latest research findings to support DI and it also gives effective strategies for implementing DI practices as well as ways to overcome barriers of incorporating DI into the curriculum. The goal of my project is to design a workshop to inform educators about differentiated instruction; what it is, why we need it, what effective DI practices look like, what the keys aspects of DI are, how to overcome the barriers of DI, and what the current research of DI is. This article does a good job of reviewing these
topics.
Wormeli, R. (2007). Differentiation: From planning to practice grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Annotation: In this book, Wormeli provides a practical way for teachers to create a differentiated lesson from start to finish. He walks educators through the lesson, giving details on what steps to take before, during, and after to make deep connections for students. He gives effective strategies and advice on how to reach “all” learners within one classroom. Wormeli presents models of effective differentiated instruction, so that teachers can extend what they learn to any subject and any classroom.
Support for Project: When creating a workshop for educators on differentiation, it is important to include models of instruction for teachers to reflect upon and use as examples for the future. That is just what this book does. Wormeli gives annotated models of effective differentiated instruction, such as tiering, flexible grouping, how to make adjustments based on formative assessments, and interdisciplinary examples for teachers to learn how to do. Once educators feel comfortable using these strategies, they can extend these procedures throughout their careers.