Don’t Meet Students Where They Are Academically
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses why teaching below grade level in the name of differentiation can widen gaps instead of helping students catch up.
Key Takeaways
- Hold Grade-Level Expectations - Teachers should teach the standards and course objectives rather than lowering content to match current student performance.
- Differentiating Content Has Risks - When students repeatedly get below-grade-level material, they miss exposure to the work they actually need to learn.
- Intervention Must Be Added, Not Substituted - Students who are behind need extra support like reading labs, math support, or interventionists alongside core instruction.
- This Is an Equity Issue - In schools with many students below grade level, “meeting students where they are” can normalize watered-down instruction for everyone.
- Differentiation Isn’t Free in Practice - Telling teachers to differentiate often avoids the real staffing and scheduling investments struggling students need.
Full Transcript
I do not think we should meet students where they are academically. This is one of those things that sounds so good when we say it. Oh, yes, I want to meet my students where they are. But if we say it the other way, if we say, hey, should we lower expectations for some students?
Well, obviously, we don't want to lower expectations for students, but those are kind of the same thing. If you look at the original differentiated instruction material, like from Carol Ann Tomlinson, She talks about differentiating content, process, and product.
And think about what happens if we differentiate content. If we say, you know what, based on where you are, it doesn't matter what the objectives of this course or the standards for this grade are. I'm going to differentiate the content for you. What effect is that going to have?
Well, I think, ideally, in our minds, it results in more relevant teaching to where the student is and results in more learning. But I think what actually ends up happening is the student never gets exposed to grade-level material.
And over time, if you have a student who is behind year after year, those gaps just accumulate because the student is never being taught grade-level material. They're constantly being met where they are and being taught below grade-level material. So I think this is a pretty serious issue that we have to grapple with.
And I think the only solution is to hold the line on what the grade-level expectations or what the course objectives are And we have to say, the purpose of having a class, like, the teacher's job in having a class is not to meet students where they are.
It's not to meet students' needs. It's to teach the specific material for that course.
And you might say, well, what if the student can't learn it? What if they're not ready? Well, that doesn't mean that you should just ruin the course and not teach what you're supposed to teach in it. Like, no, you can't solve all problems through differentiation. Like, this gets back to the differentiation conversation. We like saying, just differentiate, because it's free, right?
It costs zero dollars to tell a teacher to differentiate. It might cost $15,000 to actually add a math support class for the kids who need it. It might cost $15,000 to add a reading lab class for the students who need it. It might cost $75,000 to hire an interventionist to work full-time
and pull kids out and give them extra support. But it's that extra support that allows teachers in the classroom to teach what they're actually supposed to teach and not teach below grade level material. And I think this is a huge equity issue because when you have a lot of kids in a school who are below grade level, all of the teaching ends up meeting students where they are, which means teaching below grade level.
So I think we've got to hold the line on grade-level standards. Even if we feel like it is sometimes going over kids' heads, that is the only way to keep them moving forward. Like, they're never going to catch up with intervention alone. They need both intervention and grade-level instruction that addresses the actual standards for that grade or course. Let me know what you think.