Differentiated Instruction For Students with Learning Difficulties
Signs of a Struggling Student
Reading Difficulties
Math Difficulties
General Difficulties (Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2017)
Difficulties learning and remembering
Trouble adjusting to rules
Responding to situations with inappropriate behavior
Consistently lying
Difficulties following directions
Confusion between letters and their sounds
Reading really slowly
Ignoring punctuation while reading
Difficulty distinguishing significant information from minor details
Confused about the meaning of words and sentences
Cannot connect passages to prior knowledge
Inability to copy problems correctly
Challenged by multi-step problems
Struggle to find relevant information in problems
Difficulty with spacial organization of problems
Parental Involvement
1) Communication
Gathering information: How does your child study? Where does he/she study? At what time of day? Which resources does he/she use? How often does he/she take breaks?
Supporting a learning plan: Recognizing that the child has a disability
Encouraging mastery through positive reinforcement at home
2) Routines
Getting support at home for effective studying methods and hours.
Referral to the Learning Center
Student has difficulties across similar subject areas.
Student has difficulties in the classroom and in the dorms or at extracurriculars.
Differentiation for Struggling Students (Oswalt, 2017)
Varied resources
technology to compliment interpersonal learning
multi-sensory instruction
mnemonics
graphic organizers
Scaffolded instruction with more direct assistance, step by step instruction, and special homework
Allowing time for more practice
Allow students to work at their own pace
Administrative Assistance
Encourages teachers to use the LC to get teaching strategies for struggling students.
Encourages referring students to the LC even if they don't need to be completely monitored but just need help with organization, studying, or test prep.
Holds meetings each semester to monitor student progress and identify both effective and ineffective strategies that are being used for that student