What Teachers Can Do
Tiered Assignments
Tiered assignments offer students at different starting points
appropriate ways to engage with the same content. For
example, a student who’s fluent with basic work in fractions might have homework that focuses on problem-solving
using fractions and pre-algebraic constructs. Other students
might have a homework assignment that involves more
concrete activities, such as cutting and creating physical fractions (pieces of a pie, fraction bars, and so on). In language
arts class, tiered assignments might be as simple as varied
journal prompts. Social studies teachers might give advanced
learners more complex comprehension questions on a
whole-class text.
Also, for students who
resist doing homework
because they insist that they
already know the material,
teachers can combine pre-assessment with tiered
homework assignments
to help ensure fair and
appropriate accountability
decisions.
Most Difficult First
Teachers can use this
strategy as a pre-assessment
or as a differentiated practice
activity. It’s most effective with skill-based content, such as
math problems, spelling, and so on. For example, instead
of completing a whole sheet of 25 practice problems, the
student completes the five most difficult (which, in math, are
often the last five). Students who do them correctly don’t
have to complete the remaining problems. This strategy also
can engage underachievers who refuse to do homework that
they perceive to be a waste of time.
Curriculum Compacting
Curriculum compacting is best applied to sequential material
or to more concrete skills like grammar or math computation.
In curriculum compacting, the teacher pre-assesses students
to see what parts of the curriculum they already know. Students who have mastered specific areas are not required to
complete the grade-level work in those areas but can move
on to the next level, if there is one. If there isn’t, the students
can use that time to work on another subject area or project
of interest. Curriculum compacting fits well with independent
inquiry projects.
Independent Learning
Gifted and advanced students often have clear areas of
interest, so independent study and inquiry projects are a
natural match. In younger grades, teachers might work with
students to create contracts that identify a topic the students
want to explore as well as the product they wish to create
to share what they have learned. It’s helpful for students to
complete a time sheet showing when they have worked on
the project and to meet with the teacher at set times during
the week. Students can work independently on their projects
during “choice time” or when they have finished their regular
work. The “resident expert” model developed by Susan
For older students,
research might involve
connecting with a mentor
outside school and sharing
their work with an authentic
audience or with classmates.
Parallel Curriculum Model
For those looking to do
more substantive curriculum
revision, the parallel cur-
riculum model is a thorough
way to revise content, processes, and student products
for a unit of study. Drawing on both cognitive and affective
learning outcomes in four strands (or parallels), the model
identifies the core curriculum (What are the key content
standards and learning outcomes?); the curriculum of identity
(What relationship does this content have to an individual
learner?); the curriculum of connections (How does this
content connect across disciplines, time, place, and so on?);
and the curriculum of practice (How is this content imple-
mented and applied in the real world?).
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
For example, while typical students might be studying
core curricular concepts around the American government,
advanced learners might explore nation-building and the cre-
ation of new governments; compare the American system
to other nations’ governments; or examine the connection
between economic and political systems.
1Winebrenner, S. (2001). Teaching gifted kids in the regular
classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Press.
