Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for Middle and High School Teachers

The book provides the philosophy behind NCLB. I describes ways to include slow learners and those labeled "Special Ed". It provides practical advice on how those students can function and succeed in the regular classroom.

Amy Benjamin knows her stuff. She gives clear, specific instructions and a great rationale for not only differentiated instruction but writing and reading across the curriculum. She also writes with a passion of doing right by kids. I particularly like her lessons for how to introduce a class to the textbook or anthology -- how to take kids through it step by step so that all are included and engaged, no matter what ability levels you juggle in your classroom. Some may not like the way the book is organized: it isn't flashy or full of visuals, but it's very meaty and worth every penny. I recommend this book for all secondary educators along with Carol Tomlinson's Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 9-12. For English teachers, I recommend not only these two books but also Teaching Romeo and Juliet: A Differentiated Approach. If you take Benjamin's and Tomlinson's principles plus the specifics of the English units provided in both Tomlinson's book and the NCTE book, you will be good to go as an English teacher.

I have been teaching high school for 12 years and when I studied for GATE certification we had to read a lot of material on differentiating instruction, but it was mostly applicable for primary school teachers and environments. It was frustrating to feel like my certification class was "inventing the wheel" as we tried out different techniques in our various classes. The year after my certification I was coaching a Critical Friends Group that chose differentiation as our topic and we read this book together, trying out many of the techniques described. It was an enormously helpful resource (as is the second book using technology) and I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a text that deals with the secondary school environment. My teaching and classroom now reflect many of the tools and philosophies described by Ms. Benjamin.