Tiering

T iering is an instructional approach designed to have students of differing readiness levels work with essential knowledge, understanding, and skills but to do so at levels of difficulty appropriately challenging for them as individuals at a given point in the instructional cycle.  To tier an activity or work product:

• Clearly establish what students should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of the activity or product assignment.
• Select elements to tier.
• Develop one activity or product assignment that is interesting and engaging for students, squarely focuses on the stated learning goals, and requires students to work at a high level of thought. 
• Design a similar task for struggling learners.  The task should make adjustments based on student readiness.
• If needed, develop a third, more advanced activity for learners who have already mastered the basic concepts or skills being addressed.

From Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom by Carol-Ann Tomlinson

 Elements to Tier:

1. Tier by challenge level (Bloom's Taxonomy)
2. Tier by complexity (Address the needs of students at intorductory levels, as well as students who are ready for more advanced work)
3. Tier by resources (Choose materials at various reading levels and complexity of content)
4. Tier by outcomes (Students use the same materials, but their end-products vary)
5. Tier by process (The end-products are a the some, but the ways in which students arrive at those outcomes may vary)
6. Tier by product (Group multiple intelligences or learning styles, followed by assignments that fit those preferences)

from Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom by Diane Heacox

What constitutes a Tiered Assignment?

• ­ A focus on a key concept
• ­ Adjustment of the task to the students' ability level
• ­ Adjustment of the number of steps to the students' productivity level
• ­ Students working with appropriately challenging tasks
• ­ Result = Respectable work for everyone

To used Tiered Assignments you must:

• Know the expected outcomes
• Know the ability range of your students (learning style, interest, and/or readiness)

5 major organizational points to tiering instruction:

1. Choose a concept that students should know or understand and whether to tier according to readiness, interest, or learning profile.
2. Assess student's profile, readiness, and interest.
3. Create an activity or project that is clearly focused on the concept.
4. Adjust the activity to provide different levels of difficulty.
5. Match students to appropriate tiered assignment.

What can be tiered?  

• Assignments
• Homework
• Learning Center Activities
• Experiements
• Materials
• Assessments
• Activities