Curriculum compacting is used when a teacher encounters the challenge of a student who has already mastered a concept that other students have not.

                How:

1. Decide on a level of achievement that indicates “mastery”. Many teachers use 80% on a pre-assessment as an indication of mastery (Reis, 1998: Reis 1992).
2. Pre-assess students to decide who has already “mastered” the material.
3. Plan enrichment activities or adjust content for learners who attain a mastery level.
4. Use a record to keep track of the progress of the students.

                Finally, here are some practical suggestions that teachers may find helpful in dealing with heterogeneous classes:

1. To vary activities, so that different learning-styles and levels are addressed.
2. To make them interesting so that more advanced students won’t be bored by lower level activities.
3. To encourage collaboration, to take advantage of possibilities of peer-teaching and learning.
4. To individualized choice, in order to allow flexibility in level.
5. To personalize activities to allow room for self-expression of different individual learners.
6. To open-end activities to create opportunities to respond at different level
7. To design tasks with a clear easily achieved success level for everyone, plus further optional extensions for faster workers.

 

By: Eloisa T. San Juan | T-III | Mabatang National High School | Abucay, Bataan