The summer of my first-grade year, I flunked beginning swimming twice! I could not master the final test, which was to swim the length of the pool. I would swim halfway across the pool, and panic would set in. I never did master swimming, but, through some unconventional coaching, I did conquer the diving board. I was small and timid as a child, but, hard as I tried to fade into the background, my fiery-red hair would tell on me. As I stood in line to jump off the board, I continued to weave backward, toward the end of the line. My goal was to completely avoid the humiliation of failing yet another swimming-related task. Despite my efforts, I felt a pair of hands lift me from behind. These hands carried me to the front of the line and placed me at the edge of the board. Then, I felt a gentle nudge. I had no choice but to land in the aqua-blue water. I went down screaming, but, as I began my return to the surface, something overcame me. I could not help it—a smile emerged. I had a blast! I scurried up the side of the pool and pushed past everyone to make my way to the front. I jumped off the board again and again without assistance. My experience in the world of professional learning easily parallels the lessons I learned while jumping off the diving board. As a participant and a presenter, I have discovered three basic approaches following a professional development experience – those who willingly jump in, those who need a gentle nudge, and those who either intentionally or unintentionally never get wet.

When I was a campus-level administrator, I expected to see evidence of professional development. I yearned to see teachers who willingly jumped in and took their learning for a “swim.” However, I seldom saw a full implementation that extended over a significant period of time. Don’t get me wrong. I saw glimpses of it. I saw teachers passionate about providing dynamic research-based instruction to their students. Yet, I have become keenly aware that the “learning-doing gap” is alive and well in today’s classrooms. We are often rich in relevant professional development, yet poor in implementation. Last year, in response to this “gap,” our district explored a capacity-building model of professional development. We began a journey with ASCD faculty through Differentiated Instruction (DI). Several of our campuses are currently working with ASCD coaches to implement DI campus-wide. In practice, DI involves offering several different learning experiences in response to students' varied needs. Basically, DI is about providing quality first-time instruction; it is about meeting learners where they are at and taking them where we need them to go.

We are in our second year of DI implementation. Two days each month, the ASCD coach at each campus works with a core of ten teacher leaders to help them gain an in-depth understanding of DI, while assisting their learning in planning, leading, and implementing DI within their content areas. The coach will work alongside the teacher leaders, observing and modeling lessons. Over the course of the next year, I’ll be writing about these experiences and some of the challenges and successes involved in implementing DI in our district.  I hope to share the joys of seeing teachers jump off, with students in tow, into the waters of differentiated instruction. Yet, I know from experience things don’t always run so smoothly – while some teachers will dive right in, others will only edge cautiously toward the deep end, at least in the beginning. Hence, what I hope to share from this blog is a realistic view of implementing DI in a school in hopes others can see the potential to change their schools as well.

As I write, I would love to hear your comments or questions. Also, feel free to connect with me on my ASCD EDge Wall or on the differentiated instruction group. For some of you, these waters may be unfamiliar, but I hope you’ll take the plunge with me as I know I’ll learn a lot from what you’re doing as well.

Glenda Horner is the Coordinator for Staff Development in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, Texas. She’ll be blogging about her district’s journey in implementing Differentiated Instruction with ASCD coaches during the 2010-2011 school year.

To learn more about ASCD’s On-Site Capacity Building Services, go to www.ascd.org/oscb .