Fair Isn't Always Equal -chapter 5

Fair Isn't Always Equal
Chapter 5

Abstract:
Chapter 5 explains how to tier assessments based on students' understanding of the subject. The author suggests that we have the starting layer, or the minimum expectation, be the standard towards which we are striving; from there, we can adjust the difficulty of the assignment up or down depending on the need of the student. The chapter stresses that for early-readiness students, you don’t give them an excuse not to do the work or dumb the subject down. Instead, have them complete the same amount of work, but have them focus on smaller amounts of information at one time.
The author goes on to give several approaches to tiering: tic-tac-toe boards; learning contracts, learning menus, cubing, summarization pyramids and R.A.F.Ts. Each one gives students a limited amount of leeway in terms of choosing how he/she will demonstrate mastery of the subject.

Reflection:
Most of us found this chapter enlightening; we were all unaware that tiering and the several ways to go about it existed. We all liked that we now know how to offer "opportunities for advanced students to excel and for those students who are behind, to develop those rote skills they are missing," as Carrie put it. This approach of giving them choices also keeps everyone interested and on task, while doing the same amount of work.
As this chapter added still more templates and approaches to differentiation, we all seem slightly overwhelmed by everything that's been thrown at us, but after the first year or so it will all be second-nature.