Mastery Learning and Targeted Support - a logical and effective way to DI

In the SFEd DI workshops that I conduct, participants learn about Bloom’s Mastery Learning Instructional Process (1974) as a means to cater to the learning needs of two groups of students, those who have mastered (hence are ready for extension activities) and those who have not (hence require “correctives”, as Blooms labelled it). This instructional process of targeted support is about DI. What Blooms wrote about 49 years ago still holds water today because learning and mastery is an enduring endeavour in our classrooms.

Goodwin and Rouleau in their new book The New Classroom Instruction that Works (2023, 3^rd Ed) write about research backed targeted support which might be useful for your consideration in DI. While most of the research were conducted in elementary school settings, one research piece by Vaughn et al. (2017) stood out for its large sample size of 1629 in the context of middle school social studies. You can therefore be relatively assured of the efficacy in a humanities classroom, while bearing in mind the cultural context of a western classroom setting.

The following are guiding principles for providing students with targeted support:

i. Supplementing and not supplanting good "first instruction"

ii. Tapping extensively on formative assessment data to identify which students need support and what type of supports they need

iii. Structuring mini-lessons which engage learners in concentrated cycles of learning

With these principles in mind, you will be ready to DI with greater effectiveness. 

(1)  Ensuring first instruction provide opportunities to master key knowledge and skills  It is important to know that targeted supports are only necessary when initial instruction fails to help students achieve mastery. In other words, the more effective your instruction is, the fewer students will require additional support. Be clear about what success looks like (set those success criteria), ensure you plan for and enact opportunities for students to focus on new learning, sense make of their learning and practice the new learning.

      (2)   Using regular checks during independent practice   Checks are critical in this stage so that you can catch students before they fall. Regular quizzes, observations and practice to monitor students’ progress towards mastery are the way to go. Doing this diligently helps you identify those who are struggling. If you wait until the end-of-unit assignment to realise this, you will paddle twice as hard just to make sure they are up to speed. Identify those struggles early on to provide targeted support.

      (3)   Structuring targeted support as mini cycles of learning   A structured, targeted support includes reteaching of key concepts or skills, explaining them in a different way (e.g. more visual, using manipulatives, more concrete examples), providing students the opportunity to retry learning. As you observe them closely so see what misconceptions they have, you are providing formative feedback to correct these misconceptions and mistakes. 

      (4)  Tapping on data do determine when students no longer need targeted support   Your students should not stay in the targeted support group forever. Once they have caught up (and you have also taught them self-monitoring strategies), they are ready to move on. Be sure to connect their success to the extra effort they have put in, reinforcing a Growth Mindset as you attribute positive outcomes to their hard work.  

       References:

Guskey (2007) "All our children learning" in Blackstein, Coles and Houston eds, Engaging Every Learner, Corwin Press, CA. p 101-115

Goodwin & Rouleau (2023) The New Classroom Instruction that Works, ASCD, Arlington, VA.