Differentiation is a philosophy which allows teachers to provide instruction that meets the differing academic needs of students. Students who can understand and apply concepts at a quicker pace are accelerated. The practice of differentiation also provides opportunities for success for students who need more practice and a varied pace.
"To be a little more precise, it means that the teacher anticipates the differences in students' readiness, differences in their interests, differences in their learning profiles, and as a result of that creates different learning options or different paths to learning so that students have the opportunity to learn as much as they can, as deeply as they can but without experiencing undue anxiety because the assignments are too taxing, or boredom because they are not challenging enough."