507 1,2,3,

Figure 2

Chart/ Graphical Illustration of Low Achievers’ Pre- and Post-Test Performance

Explanation and Summary of the Graph

Figure 2 indicates the gradual process of academic development of underachievers. Unlike the medium- and high-performing students, they began to exhibit low levels of intellectual performance from 22 percent in the first time of their education on the topics. However, identifying their poor learning skills enabled me to design instructional interventions that would meet their academic requirements effectively. For instance, I provided them with information and explained to them their meanings in a gradual and slower process than their highly achieving counterparts. This tactic was especially important in bridging the knowledge gap between the higher and low achieving counterparts. I also ensured that each group comprised a mixture of high and low achievers. As a consequence, the students were able to learn phenomenally from their highly performing counterparts and adjust accordingly,. They eventually optimized their performance and performed more or less like their peers.

Individuals

Two individuals who performed differently were Stacey and Khalid, who belonged to and poor-attaining groups respectively. To meet their learning needs, I employed a differentiated instructional strategy. The differentiated instructions also aimed at ensuring that the resources utilized met their respective learning styles and ethnic backgrounds respectively. As a high-performing student, Stacey was a quick learner who would not only complete all her homework assignments on time but also read ahead of others. Khalid, on the other hand, required more attention in the sense that he required more explanation and support.

A pre-post survey was conducted to understand the efficacy of the learning strategies implemented to improve these two groups of students. The pre-test involved providing the students tests before taking them through the instructional interventions that would enhance their learning experience. The outcomes of the pre-test indicated that the students scored 75 and 32 percent respectively. After the intervention, however, the pre-post tests and examinations indicated that their overall performances have improved to 92 and 67 percent. Thus, the study confirms the hypothesis that the implementation of differentiated learning interventions to meet the distinct needs of students with varying levels of capabilities is effective in improving their outcomes.

Reflection

The learning goals that the student became most successful at include vocabularies and syllables. There are various reasons why the student was successful in these areas. First, I employed differentiated instructional strategies to meet the learner’s different styles of acquiring knowledge, such as engaging in reading and class activities. Additionally, I modified my instructional strategies to meet the student’s learning speed. These approaches satisfied and increased student experience.

The learning goal in which the student was least successful is goal 5, which required the student to learn about English pronunciation. The reason why the student performed dismally in this area is that English is not his first language. As such, the first language and culture might have impeded his process of effectively pronouncing the words. Another reason is that the student joined the class when others had already completed their learning processes. Thus, I had to go back to the basics and familiarize him with all the concepts.

There are various professional goals that I wish to pursue after this experience. First, I would like to strengthen my capacity to build teacher-student relationship. I believe that such a goal can be important in promoting the culture of open sharing of ideas with learners. Additionally, I would like to increase my students’ self-directed learning skills. This goal can help them to develop and strengthen their research skills, thereby optimizing knowledge retention. The first step that I will take to increase performance will be to align the instructions with learning standards. The second step will involve implementing formative assessment and providing frequent feedback.

During the start of the academic and learning periods, many students expressed low levels of familiarity with the lesson’s contents and concepts as indicated in the graph. As a consequence, the mean grade of their performance started at 46. Upon merging resources with the desired instructional strategies, however, they began to exhibit optimal intellectual performance. Consequently, their average grades improved phenomenally from 46 percent at day lesson 1 to 92 percent in the final lessons.

The students’ gradual growth to optimal levels of academic performance is largely attributed to the utilization of different learning and instructional strategies. The first approach that I employed included delivering differentiated learning strategies to meet both the students’ learning approaches and their ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds. Indeed, students’ learning capabilities often depend on their preferred modes of gathering and retaining knowledge. What one student prefers to utilize may not be applicable to another students. Nonetheless, Rhonda et al. (2019) observes that many instructors erroneously employ a one-size-fits-all approach to delivering instructions. In such situations, they place many emphases on the middle range of students’ academic abilities, primarily using whole-class instructions. However, this approach may not resonate well with those who are either fast or slow learners. The Education for All (EFA) and No Child Left behind (NCLB) policies require disaggregation of test scores by student subgroups, which increases public attention to gaps in the learners’ accomplishments and illuminates the need to change the existing teaching practices. In reaction to this strategy, I adopted the response to intervention (RTI) tool, which is a multi-tiered framework that is utilized to support students and develop instructional problem solving. Under such an arrangement, the students received differentiated based interventions with frequent monitoring to measure their responses from the pre-assessment to the assessment phases of the content delivery processes.

I also employed differentiated instructions to efficaciously implement lesson plans with a view to serving the diverse needs of learners in general classroom environments. However, considering the pressures from policies to practice, I avoided the utilization of a one-size-fits-all approach to differentiated learning. This approach was based on the idea that the existing educational patterns across the world often reflect major changes in student populations from two or three decades ago. In that connection, the incorporation of learners from non-English speaking backgrounds, students with disabilities, and learners from diverse cultural origins implies that educators must relook at their teaching and instructional practices. The homogeneity of previous years has been replaced by the widespread diversity, some which educators have not adjusted to in their methods to keep updated to such trends.

The students’ remarkable progress in learning language and phonetics also stemmed from the utilization of engagement strategies. In this respect, I utilized both storytelling and interesting activities that made the learners immersed into the knowledge acquisition processes. This process increased their levels of satisfaction and enhanced motivation to learn by reducing their feeling of isolation (Martin & Bolliger, 2018). As a consequence, all the learners improved their overall performance in most of their topics. Since the students are still in their early phases of the educational journey, they need to explore their strengths, learning styles, places, and their special forms of intelligence. As a teacher, I was responsible for helping them to know and meet their respective learning needs and preferences. My student engagement exercise focused on improving their psychological and cognitive development in an effort to increase their level of concentration, understanding, or mastering of the knowledge, skills, or concepts that the academic works were meant to promote. Additionally, I utilized different resources to create a positive learner experiences, such as active learning opportunities, increased student-teacher collaboration, and group work. I also employed presentations and encouraged discussions, resource sharing, and provision of assignments that entailed hands-on components. This enabled me to integrate case studies and reflections to explain different concepts associated with phonetics for the learners to master.

The resources that I utilized also met different learning styles based on students’ levels of preferences. To this end, different principles were utilized to create a positive learning experience. I for example, increased and strengthened contact with students to closely monitor and evaluate their performance over the entire stages of learning. Additionally, I established conditions for promoting opportunities for students to work collaboratively and cooperatively. This step was particularly pivotal in putting in place an environment in which children learn from each other through the open sharing of ideas and knowledge. I also encouraged students to utilize active learning strategies and provided them with timely feedback regarding their progress and overall performance over a specified duration after the assessments. More importantly, I encouraged the learners to spend their quality time on intellectual tasks such as individual homework, reading, writing, and group discussions. Finally, I ensured that I would address different learner needs in the knowledge acquisition process, which went a long way in increasing their level of retention.

Charts and Student Work Samples

Sample 1

Sample 2

Chart 1

Chart 2: A comparison of Student Group Performances

Chart 3: Pretest and Post-test Knowledge Retention Rates

Chart 4: Student Satisfaction Scores

References

Jönsson, A. (2018). Meeting the needs of low-achieving students in Sweden: An

interview study. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 3, p. 63). Frontiers.

Martin, F., & Bolliger, D. U. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the

importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online

Learning, 22(1), 205-222.

Rhonda, B, R. S., Dahnke, C., & Zusho, A. (2019). How does changing “one-size-fits-all” to

differentiated instruction affect teaching?. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 336-

362.

Student Performances