If we were tasked with the mission of creating school and classroom ecosystems that worked for the students who are struggling, what would they look like? Probably not the way most classrooms look now. Most schools and classrooms are structured around the kids who aren’t struggling (either that, or there are just some kids who are going to do well pretty much no matter what). But what would we do differently if we structured things in the opposite direction? Safe in the belief that what works for those who are struggling also works for those who aren’t (and knowing that the reverse is not true), what structures, belief systems, and practices would we change?

Developmental variability refers to the natural differences or fluctuations in how individuals develop over time. It applies to all domains of functioning—cognitive/academic, emotional, physical, and social—and it’s guaranteed to be walking into your school and classroom. Amazingly enough, it’s a term we don’t hear very often in educator training or in schools. And yet, it’s your reality. We should embrace it.

The good news is that developmental variability isn’t something you need to change; it’s something you need to focus on, be responsive to, and plan for with intentionality. The quality of a school is measured by the degree to which it is responsive to the developmental variability of its students. (By the way, a good synonym for developmental variability is diversity.)

If the goal is to be responsive to the developmental variability in our classrooms, then we would define good teaching as meeting every student where they’re at. This definition is broad enough to encompass the pursuit of high (yet highly individualized) expectations, getting the most out of every student (with each student as their own reference point), and being important socialization agents. It’s also a good way to define equity (as opposed to equality, which means treating every........

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