Factors for the Success of Catering for
Students’ Learning Needs –
From Rationales to Practice
Franky Poon
Vice Principal
HKRSS Tai Po Secondary School
10 January 2012
一個令人有讀寫困難的校名
香港紅卍字會大埔卍慈中學
讀音困難
書寫困難
容易混淆：
1. 「卍」 與 「萬」
2. 「卍」 與
3. 香港紅卍字會 與 香港紅十字會
4. 「卍」 與 佛教
Setting the scene
Getting to know my school
My school is a place where….
catering for learner diversity has become a necessity.
Our Mission
Our name card
Our Policy
Our Assumptions (1)
3-tier intervention model for catering to learner diversity
Types of Students
With special
educational needs
With persistent
social/learning
difficulties
Average
Efforts that teachers have to make
Our Assumption (2)
Catering for diversity is a shift from selection to
inclusion
S
I
N
Our Achievements
Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence
Our School Ethos: 卓越關愛校園大獎 2010
Our Support to others:
Resource school on Whole School Approach
Our critical friends
Norway, Holland, Scotland, Britain, Australia, US, Thailand and Malaysia…
Our Publication
Hawkins, M. (Ed.). Social justice
language teacher education.
Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters,
p. 124-161
Our belief on School Change
Catering for learner diversity is a
capacity building process
What is “Capacity building”？
“ Capacity building is defined as any
strategy that increases the collective
effectiveness of a group to raise the bar
and close the gap of student learning.”
Levin & Fullan (2008)
How to build capacity？
“ Behaviour often changes before beliefs.
So everything must be driven by a bias for
action and learning rather than a
traditional approach to endless planning
before acting.”
Levin & Fullan (2008)
The Prerequisites of School Improvement:
Shared vision and Ownership
“Shared vision and ownership are the
outcomes of a quality process rather than
a precondition.”
Levin & Fullan (2008)
From Abstract Inclusive Values to
Concrete Inclusive Practices: Our Journey
2008/09
Case Study
Practice  Evaluation: Lesson observation
Action  Sharing: Staff development activity
Awareness  Action: Filming of LD strategies
Awareness raising: Class-based Action Research
2006/07
Subject/Committee Annual Program Plan
3-year School Development Plan
3-year School Development Plan
Area of concerns
To develop a
WSA to
catering for
individual
differences
Expected outcomes
strategies
Subject/Committee Annual Program Plan
Awareness raising：Class based action research project
Streaming of students
Group
No less than 3
ability groups
should be identified
Description
of each
group
Class
no.
Awareness raising：Class based action research project
Group
targets
strategies
Success
criteria
Evaluation
methods
Resource
needed
From awareness to Action:
Filming of LD strategies
Strategies include:
Heterogeneous grouping, ability
grouping, cooperative learning, peer
assessment, questioning techniques,
graded worksheets, computerassisted learning, individual
instruction….
From Action to Sharing: Staff development activity
10 teachers
were invited to
share their
practices
(illustrated
with a short
video ) with
other teachers
From Practice to Evaluation:
Lesson observation
Criteria for assessment
1) Learning objectives are clearly stated
2) Classroom routines are wellestablished
3) Diversified learning / teaching
activities are provided
4) Different learning styles are
addressed
5) Students with different abilities are
catered for
6) Timely and effective feedbacks are
provided
Enhancing teaching effectiveness
Conceptual framework of the development of differentiated
curriculum and teaching strategies
Evaluation
(focus, feedback)
Implementation
(well-defined needs,
procedures and outcomes)
Experimentation
(low-stake, celebration
of success)
Awareness raising
(context, relevance)
Goal Setting
(specific, measurable,
time-targeted objectives)
Strategies to cater for learner diversity in
HKRSS
HKDSE & Differentiated Curriculum
The Opportunities for Curriculum Differentiation
brought forth by HKDSE
From norm-referenced
To Standards-referenced
Clearer Indicators for different standards
Teachers can help students to set
their own personal goals on each subject
Different attainment levels of HKDSE
standards-referenced reporting
In the HKDSE, standards-referenced reporting will be adopted to report
candidates' assessment results. For each of the five levels, a set of
written descriptors will be developed that describe what the typical
candidate performing at this level is able to do. The principle behind
these descriptors is that they describe what typical candidates can do,
not what they cannot do. In other words, they describe performance in
positive rather than negative terms. 。
Source: HKEAA, 2009
What does each level mean？
Learning paces and attainments
Level descriptors and
differentiated learning tasks
NSS Geography
Using level descriptors to
differentiate the curriculum,
learning tasks and expected
outcomes
Standards-referenced Reporting
Level
5
Level descriptors
making
extensive use of
geographical
terminology
explain
complex spatial
and ecological
relationships
and processes
apply
knowledge to
unfamiliar
geographical
contexts
demonstrate
evaluative,
inferential and
problemsolving skills
describe in a
describe simple
simple and
Geographical
straightforward ideas and
manner
concepts
Identify similar
places,
environments
and simple
processes
express simple
ideas and
arguments
4
3
2
1
Everyday language
→ geographical terminology
Identify simple concepts
→ explain complex processes
Identify familiar places → apply knowledge to unfamiliar contexts
express simple arguments → give critiques of geographical knowledge
Principles for designing assignments
which cater for learner diversity
Sharing of a school-based project conducted in Feb, 2011
Chinese
Differentiating input for writing
High
Differentiating input for writing
Average
Differentiating input for
writing
Low
Using hint boxes
Using graphic organizers
Inserting Q/A between
paragraphs of long texts
Using visual stimuli
Using comic strips
Using structured writing
space
Using mind-map to develop ideas
Using mind-map to develop ideas
Using animal icons to group
materials under the same unit
English
Multi media input
Vocabulary building through researching
on the Internet
Using a mind map to organize ideas
Polishing a mind map
Use of Q/A to promote sentence writing
Turning
sentences into
a text (an oral
presentation)
Peer assessment
Illustrating a text with graphics / drawings
Different levels of questioning
Mathematics
Visual Cues
Making use of everyday
experience
Allowing choices
Individualizing and tracking
learning progress
Designing revision booklet
Graded exercises
不同程度的題目
Liberal Studies
Extracting and reorganizing information
from textbooks
Allowing different expectations
Low
High
Step-by-step instructions:
Re-organization  Critique
Step-by-step instructions:
Re-organization  Critique
Providing stick-on questions
Differentiated materials and Chinese herbs cabinet
分流模式
優點：
• 鼓勵能力較佳的學生
培養自學精神
• 騰出時間給低能力組
別作個別指導
• 同組學生較易達到預
期學習目標
• 同組學生之間易於溝
通
缺點：
• 標籤效應
• 分流的準確度
• 學生感覺不公
混合模式
優點：
• 學習能力稍高的學生
為成績稍遜的學生提
供協助（小導師）
• 鼓勵朋輩互相學習
• 減少標籤效應
缺點：
• 老師未能兼顧各組內
能力稍遜的學生
• 不同能力學生之間的
協作問題
• 能力稍遜的學生養成
倚賴的習慣
課堂活動多元化
• 以配合學生的各種興趣，使不同能力的學
生也能參與課堂學習
– 討論
– 寫作
– 繪畫
– 解決難題
– 繪製概念圖
– 使用圖書館
– 視聽教材
– 資訊科技
互動教學
• 非單向式教學，增加學生課堂參與機會及
投入感
•
•
•
•
口頭滙報
發問時間
角色扮演
示範 / 實踐
評估調適策略
•
•
•
•
加時應考
往特別室應考
電腦輔助應考
調適試卷
調適試卷
•
“A”：一般試卷（包含不同程度題目，
以照顧不同能力的同學）
•
“B”：調適試卷（內容整體較淺）
調適試卷的程序
1. 編製評估試卷調適工作指引
2. 融合教育主任決定作答調適試卷之學生名單
– 特殊教育需要報告
– 學生及家長意願
– 班主任及科任老師建議
3.
4.
5.
6.
擬卷老師提交「試卷調適分析表」
試後，各科組檢討調適試卷的成效
各科主任交流調適試卷分析結果
教師發展日:分組討論調適試卷策略
試題之調適策略
1. 附加提示／解說
2. 字體放大
3. 試題及答題紙合一
4. 減少試題數目
5. 淺化題目／避免考核較抽象概念
6. 給予公式／例子
7. 更改提問方式
8. 更改題目類型／答題形式
9. 利用圖像代替文字
10. 要求完成概念圖以協助答題
11. 採用較淺／簡短的閱讀篇章
12. 撮寫（簡化）原文（如：閱讀理解）
中二數學科
（A）
中二數學科
（B）
調適策略：
提示步驟
淺化題目
Our final words for thought
Poon, F. & Lin, A (2011) “Creating a School Program to Cater to Learner
Diversity: A Dialogue between a School Administrator and an Academic”
Social Justice Language Teacher Education, Multilingual Matters.
94
Thank You