6: Grouping, Differentiation, Technology (Slavin, Ch. 9)
Description: As teachers begin to move beyond the traditional lecture style instruction, a variety of methods and formats become available. Several important considerations arose from the work of John Carroll in “A Model of School Learning” (1963, 1989), and Slavin eventually identified the following four elements of instruction: “Quality of instruction, Appropriate levels of instruction, Incentive, and Time” (1995). Using these four elements as a guide, teachers may find that they can better serve their students by grouping students, differentiating the content, or adapting instruction through technology. Research has found that the benefits of these structures varies greatly depending on the manner and context in which they are used. Programs, such as Title 1, that are intended to support struggling students have demonstrated limited positive impact (Slavin, 2018), and in some cases, such as when students are “retained” or held back, can even have a negative impact on ac...