The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners

Citation

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (2nd ed.). ASCD.

Chapter Summary

The second edition runs to 198 pages and is organised as a preface, nine chapters, a short closing piece called "A Final Thought" and an appendix of planning tools, followed by a bibliography. According to the publisher, Tomlinson draws on nearly three decades of experience and on research about learning, education and change to give differentiated instruction a theoretical basis, and fills the book with examples of teachers and students working this way. Three chapters at the core describe actual lessons, units and classrooms, in elementary and secondary settings across nearly all subject areas.

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduces the new edition. The publisher says the second edition draws on advances in research and on feedback from years of implementing the first.

Chapter 1: What Is a Differentiated Classroom?

The opening chapter defines the term and describes what a differentiated classroom looks like, which sets the picture the rest of the book fills in. The preface and this chapter are available to read free on the publisher's site.

Chapter 2: The Underpinnings of Differentiation

Sets out the reasoning behind differentiation. The publisher describes the book's theoretical basis as drawn from research on learning, education and change, and the title marks this chapter as the place where the underpinnings are discussed.

Chapter 3: Learning Environments That Support Differentiated Instruction

Turns to the classroom environment as a condition for differentiation, before the chapters on what is taught.

Chapter 4: Good Curriculum as a Basis for Differentiation

Takes up curriculum, on the premise in the title that differentiation depends on having good curriculum to differentiate.

Chapter 5: Teachers at Work Building Differentiated Classrooms

The title points to accounts of teachers building differentiated classrooms, which fits the publisher's statement that the book looks at actual lessons, units and classrooms in many subjects.

Chapters 6–7: Instructional Strategies That Support Differentiation; More Instructional Strategies to Support Differentiation

Two chapters of instructional strategies, the second continuing the first.

Chapter 8: How Do Teachers Make It All Work?

Moves from individual strategies to the practical question of how a teacher manages them together over time. The publisher's description of a "think versus sink" approach, in which readers make small changes first and then larger ones, fits this practical emphasis.

Chapter 9: Education Leaders as Catalysts for Differentiated Classrooms

Addresses the role of school and system leaders, matching the publisher's statement that the book speaks to educational leaders who want to foster differentiation in their schools.

A Final Thought and Appendix: Tools to Guide Planning for Differentiated Instruction

A short closing section, followed by an appendix of tools for planning differentiated instruction. A bibliography follows.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–2

• Differentiated classroom: the subject of the opening chapter, and in the subtitle's terms a classroom that responds to the needs of all learners.
• Underpinnings of differentiation: the research-based rationale Chapter 2 sets out.

Chapters 3–5

• Learning environment: treated as a support for differentiated instruction in its own chapter.
• Good curriculum: presented in Chapter 4 as the basis for differentiation.
• Teachers at work: the book's accounts of teachers building differentiated classrooms.

Chapters 6–9

• Instructional strategies: two chapters are devoted to strategies that support differentiation.
• Making it all work: the management question Chapter 8 poses.
• Leadership for differentiation: the role of education leaders in Chapter 9.
• "Think versus sink": the publisher's name for the book's approach of beginning with small changes.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Teacher-facing from the first page. The publisher addresses experienced and novice teachers and educational leaders, and the contents show a movement from definition (Chapter 1) to rationale (Chapter 2), environment and curriculum (Chapters 3 and 4), strategies (Chapters 6 and 7) and management and leadership (Chapters 8 and 9).
• Concrete classrooms alongside theory. The publisher describes real-life examples and three central chapters that follow lessons, units and classrooms in elementary and secondary settings, so claims about differentiation are tied to examples of practice.
• A gradual path to change. The "think versus sink" approach asks teachers to begin with small changes and move to larger ones, which makes the book usable by teachers who cannot rebuild their practice at once.
• Easy to sample. The preface and first chapter are free on the publisher's site, and an ASCD study guide accompanies the book, which suits professional reading groups.

Limitations

• A practice guide, not an evidence review. The contents give one chapter to the underpinnings of differentiation, and the publisher stresses the book's examples. A 2019 systematic review of differentiated instruction in secondary education (Smale-Jacobse and colleagues, Frontiers in Psychology) reports that evidence for the benefits of differentiation is scarce there, so readers should treat the book's examples as illustrations rather than proof of effect.
• Short for its scope. At 198 pages the book covers environment, curriculum, strategies, management and leadership. Readers wanting extended detail on a particular subject, on assessment or on a particular group of learners will need other sources. No chapter title is devoted to assessment.
• Not a research monograph on grouping. The book does not set out to settle debates such as the effects of grouping pupils by prior attainment; that question belongs to the research literature elsewhere in the course.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the classroom-practice list, The Differentiated Classroom is the book on responding to the range of learners in one class. Bill Rogers's Classroom Behaviour is a practical guide to establishing calm, consistent order, and Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion 3.0 is a handbook of named classroom techniques; both focus on how a teacher runs a lesson, where Tomlinson focuses on how the lesson is shaped for different learners. Jon Saphier and colleagues' The Skillful Teacher is a broad resource covering planning, classroom culture, questioning, assessment and responding to student needs, and overlaps most with Tomlinson's concerns.

For evidence, the Handbook of Classroom Management is an edited research handbook, and Becky Francis and colleagues' Reassessing Ability Grouping is a research monograph on the decision whether to group pupils by prior attainment, which is one of the central choices in differentiation. Read Tomlinson first for the framework and the examples, then these for the research.

How to Use This Book

The book is for practising and trainee teachers at elementary and secondary level, school leaders, and anyone running a professional learning group. No prerequisite is needed beyond some classroom experience, real or observed.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1 and 2 for the idea and its rationale, then Chapters 6 and 7 for strategies you can try.
• Context for the strategies: Chapters 3 and 4 on environment and curriculum, and Chapter 5 for accounts of teachers at work.
• For implementation: Chapter 8 on making it all work, and the appendix of planning tools; school leaders should add Chapter 9.
• In practice: Follow the "think versus sink" advice by choosing one small change, trying it for a unit, and reviewing the result before taking on more. Use the ASCD study guide with colleagues, and pair the book with a research source such as the ability-grouping monograph or the management handbook when you need evidence.