I believe that you are 100% on the right track. Students have different ways that they learn and different goals and aspirations. I believe in our state and in our country that there is a disconnect between the jobs available and the training and education that students are receiving. I think that vocational and fine arts educational paths should be available to students who are not going to be college bound or have no interest in being college bound. Having alternative standards that are performance or task based would be very beneficial to students. More students would be engaged and less students would drop out of school due to frustration.

I think the important thing to remember about differentiation is that we are using it as a tool to help students "reach the finish line". Differentiation is a way to meet students where they are and help them to meet the expectations we have for every student; it focuses on the process.

While I understand your position and question,, there are some state differentiation in the way that we assess. This differentiation is known as testing accommodations. There is also a portfolio state test known as the Georgia Alternate Assessment for students with significant intellectual disabilities. In previous years, in Georgia, there was a modified version of the state test (CRCT) known as the CRCT-M (modified). This year, we are all a little nervous because this was replaced by the GA Milestones. This test has no modified version. I believe that there should be more differentiation in our state mandated tests.

Differentiation is a tool used to help students during the process of learning. The end result of students should be the same for all. Differentiation is used to help them get there. Some might learn faster on certain issues, but all need to get there by the end. Understandably, they don't all get there all the time and that is why the standardized test can be difficult to understand. That is why I view growth as important on tests as well.

As an EIP teacher i have always been vocal about this very situation. Recently, I learned that the school system/state cannot possibly differentiate standardized test for the different needs of all students. What they want us to focus on is how we are able to show growth for the student. I would therefore focus on moving the the students' performance on these benchmark tests and hopefully it will translate to better scores on the state tests.

I do not think that standardized tests are ever going to be differentiated. State officials want students to be proficient on the same standards, so differentiation won't occur on state assessments because those strategies should have been implemented so the students can achieve on the standardized assessment. What's weird about this is those students who truly need differentiation for lessons and tests will ALWAYS need differentiation. So, even though we are using differentiation as a preparation tool; students will always need this tool to succeed. This may even explain the ever changing format of standardized tests.

Good point. I don't understand why our systems are so reliant on state mandated standardized tests when we learn in our teaching classes that they are not the best ways to evaluate student growth. I think that students with IEPs and 504's have testing accommadations that are meant to meet thier needs. I think you brought up a very intersting question that I wish could be addressed on a larger scale.

This is a frustration of all teachers who prepare students for mandates tests. It would be impossible to truly differentiate for all students who need to be assessed. Teachers must focus on what they can control, which is how they differentiate content for their learners and doing the best that they can to prepare the students for the tests that they will have to take.

We definitely should differentiate in both the classroom and on standardized tests. Students will score better and will truly be able to show what they know on a test that they can understand, engages them, etc.

My answer is not necessarily a solution, but a way to rationalize through the frustration of standardized testing. We differentiate in our classroom to accommodate the many learning styles that sit in our room. Our end goals for the students are ultimately the same, though. It is our job to bring them to that same successful end however we can get them there. This theory doesn't embrace the idea that assessment could/should be differentiated as well, but it's a way to validate the use of differentiated instruction in a standardized testing world.