The notion of differentiated instruction dates as far back as Confucius who is said to have recognized that people differ in their abilities. He advocated individually based instruction. Certainly differentiated instruction is not new to teachers in America, either. After all, the nation’s one-room schoolhouses survived on differentiated instruction.

Today, many believe that high-stakes tests are reinforcing one-size-fits-all instruction. They argue that the common teaching approach of preparing all students in a particular grade for passing a standardized test is counterproductive and will leave many children behind.

Despite the pressure to get all students performing at the same level as reinforced by mandated testing, educators everywhere are challenging the one-size-fits-all approach to instruction. They are bolstered by research as that of Tomlinson et al. (2003), which shows that instruction aimed at recognizing the varied abilities of kids yields positive results. There is also sufficient evidence to demonstrate that placing students into tracks based on ability has yielded few positive results and has led to lowered expectations.

A large part of our reason for creating Reading A–Z and our other websites was to provide teachers and parents with a huge array of research-based resources to answer the demands of differentiated instruction in today’s classrooms. Teachers need many tools in their toolbox and it is often too expensive to get all they need. But with ProQuest LearningPage’s online resources, teachers can select their needed materials and print the quantities they need at one low, annual subscription price.