Chapter 5 FIAE

Tiering assignments does not mean lowering the standard. Tiering involves phrasing a question to meet the various readiness levels of a given student or class. The lowest readiness level will typically meet the bare minimum of the standard. The book characterizes three different readiness levels. “Early Readiness Level” provides the basic requirements of the standard. “Grade Level Task” provides more than basic requirements of the standard and expectations of the grade level. “Advanced Grade Level” exceeds the needs of the standard and grade level expectations.

            The Learning Contract Theory is very similar to Social Contract Theory. Social Contract Theory involves the ruled allowing their leaders to rule them. It follows the belief that the governed give their consent to be ruled. If the government abuses said power, it is the right of the governed to remove the abuser. Learning Contracts serve as a compromise between educator and learner. The teacher decides content objectives and the student determines their timeline. We see this in college syllabuses. The Professor lays out the content they will cover and every due date for each assignment. The student plans to complete each assignment and communicates if they are unable to.

            The book provides various other creative strategies to address tiering. Learning menus, prompt cubes, Taxonomy of Creativity, RAFT, verb change, and one-word summaries provide many different strategies that I could implement in my classroom. Regardless of the strategy, the book recommends listing every skill the student will need to meet the assessment goals. Being open about your expectations and goals is essential to student understanding.