Differentiate high‑ability learners

Teachers looking for ways to challenge advanced students without piling on extra worksheets are getting a fresh playbook from a new Teachers on Fire podcast episode with Alicia Schroeder-Schock. (teachersonfire.net) The episode was published on April 11, 2026, and host Tim Cavey broke it into timestamps, including 1:31 for defining high-ability learners, 6:53 for choice boards, 10:51 for curriculum compacting, and 19:13 for differentiation in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics settings. (teachersonfire.net) Schroeder-Schock is a North Dakota educator, consultant, and founder of Elementary Elevated, where she says she helps elementary teachers differentiate instruction for high-ability learners and build higher-level thinking into grade-level work. (youtube.com, elementaryelevated.com) The core classroom problem is simple: students who already know the material can spend class time repeating it. The National Association for Gifted Children says high-ability students need learning that challenges them in regular classrooms and enrichment or accelerated settings so they can keep making progress. (nagc.org) One strategy in the episode is the choice board, a menu of tasks that lets students show learning in different ways. Schroeder-Schock has also presented a session for the North Dakota Association for Gifted Children on using choice boards to give students more control over products and pathways. (teachersonfire.net, ndagc.org) Another is curriculum compacting, which means trimming lessons students have already mastered and replacing that time with harder work. The National Association for Gifted Children defines compacting as adjusting curriculum for students who already know the material and swapping repetition for enrichment or new content. (nagc.org) That approach is not limited to separate gifted programs. Iowa’s Department of Education lists compacting and within-class grouping among instructional practices for high-performing students in regular classrooms, including students strong in a single core subject such as mathematics or reading. (educate.iowa.gov) Artificial intelligence also appears in the episode, but as a selective support rather than a stand-in for teaching. A recent review in the *European Journal of Education* said teachers need clearer artificial intelligence competence frameworks, while the American Psychological Association reported that educational psychologists are studying how generative artificial intelligence can support personalized learning and assessment. (teachersonfire.net, onlinelibrary.wiley.com, apa.org) The through line in the episode is pace and fit: less time on what students can already do, more time on work that stretches them. That is the same logic behind the research-backed strategies the National Association for Gifted Children lists for acceleration, compacting, grouping, and teacher training. (teachersonfire.net, nagc.org)