Differentiation at Mark Day

What is differentiation, why does it matter, and what does it look like at Mark Day School? Watch the below video to hear from teachers about how they differentiate to make sure all students are feeling both supported and challenged every day.

What is differentiation?

At Mark Day School, differentiation means every student is working at that proximal zone of development so they are appropriately challenged and supported at the same time. Teachers adjust content, process, and product so that students who are ready to go deeper can, and students building toward mastery have what they need to get there, all within the same curriculum.

Why does differentiation matter?

We want every student to feel both challenged and supported. Research shows that students grow most when learning something new sits just beyond what they can already do independently. Work that's appropriately challenging, rather than too easy or too hard, is what builds real skill. And the payoff isn't just academic: when a student pushes through something that once felt uncomfortable and comes out the other side to do it, that sense of confidence and earned achievement stays with them.

What does differentiation look like at Mark Day?

Differentiation shows up every day, across grade levels and subjects. Foundational to the process is building in regular check-ins with students, formal and informal conferencing, and small touchpoints throughout the day that allow each teacher to deeply know a student's strengths and areas for improvement.

If a teacher is walking around the room during a lesson and notices a student needs more support or more challenge, the teacher has the tools ready to meet that moment. For example, in math, a teacher can offer different sets of dice with simplified numbers for students building foundational skills and double or triple dice for students ready to push their mathematical skills. In English, differentiation shows up in a similar way. To encourage concise writing, a teacher might implement a page limit for an assignment. But for a student who's already a concise writer, the teacher can extend the student's essay beyond the standard page limit to allow them to pursue their question in more depth.