Curriculum compacting is a differentiation strategy by which students are pre-assessed to determine their current understanding of the curriculum. If it is determined, through pre-assessment, that a student has mastered a curricular concept, he/she is not required to complete the grade-level work. Instead, alternate activities may be assigned in an effort to maximize instruction.

Once a student has clearly demonstrated an understanding of the curriculum, the next step is to choose alternate activities that can either support a greater understanding of the same material that was tested or provide further challenges that are at higher levels of thinking. While this often seems like a daunting task for many teachers, a multitude of resources are available and ready to help teachers accomplish this, ranging from the Internet to suggested activities that are listed in virtually every teacher’s edition. If additional resources are lacking, independent study in a related area of interest is another possibility.



