On a visit to Washington, D.C., I chose to walk up the steps leading to the gigantic statue of Abe. The truth is, at the time, I didn’t know there was an easier route to the statue! Nevertheless, I do not regret taking the steps! What met me at the top was a fabulous statue. This past summer, I topped that experience!

I told my friends that I scaled the Great Wall, but the truth is I merely jaunted across a small section that spreads across nearly 4,000 miles of northern China! Made up of winding, rugged paths, the steps creep along steep mountains and allow the traveler to take in some of the grandest of scenery! My journey was well worth the dozens (and dozens) of steps I took! (The banner on this blog is the view I saw that day!) As I crept along the Wall, I developed a simple technique that made the seemingly impossible, possible. I looked ahead and decided where I wanted to end up. Others with me did the same. Some traveled further, some less. I tried to not look too far up ahead because I easily became discouraged by what seemed impossible. I literally took it one step at a time. When I became breathless, I stopped to catch my breath, mumbled words that I would not want my children to hear me saying, and on occasion, burst into laughter. Wasn’t it Confucius who once said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Our district’s journey through differentiated instruction (DI) easily parallels my experience that day. After all, it is a journey of a thousand steps beginning with a single step from where you are.

Recently, someone shared with me that at a one-day DI follow up training, heads turned when one of the participants audibly sighed as if to say: “Not this, again.” A subsequent side-bar conversation allowed the participant to re-focus and realize that, yes; it is “this” again. At a nearby table, a couple of participants were momentarily distracted by their laptops, and yet another sidebar conversation unfolded. Amazingly, with a little redirection and a gifted ASCD presenter, within moments, even the averse ones became authentically engaged in the training. This small handful of hesitant participants sat in juxtaposition to a room filled with dynamic individuals ready to see where their journey might take them next.

 In the past, I received my fair share of what some refer to as “sit and get” or “spray and pray” professional development (PD). The participant literally “sits and gets,” while the presenter “sprays” around theories and ideas and “prays” that some of it sticks. Little, if any, follow up occurs after a PD experience like this; it might not even be mentioned again. We began our journey through DI with a concerted effort to move away from this past PD practice towards a coaching model grounded in research (Joyce and Showers, 2002).  Our district’s view of PD is shifting. We would be naïve to think that all have embraced this changing paradigm. Perhaps somewhere along the way, the reluctant participants were led to believe that “change is a synonym for ‘fad,’ that innovations have the shelf life of bread, and that business as usual is fine after all.” The stark reality is that “leaders may prefer to give up rather than to proceed; but when leaders give up, they contribute to (this) nearly universal teacher belief (Tomlinson and Allan, 2000, p. 40). Thankfully, I am a part of a district that realizes that the change process is slow, arduous, and at times, exhausting! Tomlinson and Allan remind us that district-wide efforts are required in order for schools to become what they ought to be and that “widespread and effective differentiation does not happen by accident” (2000, p. 38).

As we tiptoe into our second year of implementation, we continue to provide training and support for our teachers and leaders. Daily, I see living testament to the district’s commitment. It comes in glimpses; a busy assistant superintendent who actively participants in a full-day training for some of our teacher leaders; an agenda item at a curriculum meeting that attends to the idea of grading in a DI classroom; a responsive professional development that tiers according to readiness levels: straight ahead, uphill, and mountainous. Tomlinson and Allan remind us that: “Wishing or even mandating change does not make it come to pass. Though more difficult than that, the journey is possible; and as is true with most things in life, the complex and uncertain things are often the most rewarding”  (2000, p. 48).

As I continue to write, I would love to hear your comments or questions. Also, I invite you to connect with me on my ASCD EDge Wall or on the differentiated instruction group. The journey of a thousand steps is less onerous when accompanied by friends.

Resources:

Joyce, B. & Showers, B., Achievement through staff development. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2002.

Tomlinson, C. & Allan, S., Leadership for differentiating schools & classrooms. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.

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

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