Contract Fact Sheet



Contract Fact Sheet

What is it? A contract is an agreement between one or more students and their teacher; it specifies learning objectives, activities, resources, deadlines/timelines, assessment procedures, working conditions, and places for signatures. The teacher agrees to allow a student the freedom to pursue an area of special interest; and the student, in turn, agrees to follow certain independent learning conditions.

Why use it? Use a contract during the duration of a learning unit to allow students who have mastered most or all of the planned objectives to participate in learning experiences related to the unit. The planned activities should extend, complement, and enrich what students not on a contract are doing. Contracts are beneficial in allowing students to develop independent learning skills, to take responsibility for and ownership of their learning, and to learn to manage time and activities.

How do you create and use a learning contract?

1. Preplan enrichment activities and assemble materials. When possible, these activities should be authentic and should provide real-world opportunities to apply and extend what they already know. They should ask students to respond at the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy.

2. Plan and create a master contract which may include some required activities and which also offers the student choices which will accommodate differences in learning styles, intelligence preferences, and interests.

3. Pretest students who want to use contracts and meet with those who qualify for contracts to explain expectations, options, rules, and procedures. While these students are taking the pretest and the teacher is explaining the conditions of the contract, students who will not be using a contract will participate in enrichment activities.

4. Students, teachers. and sometimes parents will sign the contract, indicating that they agree with the conditions set forth in the document.

5. Provide a space for students on contracts to work; gather materials that students will need here.

6. Provide a log where students record their contracts activities daily.

7. Meet regularly with contract students; teachers need to check on progress, and students need feedback.

8. Evaluate student work. Self-checking may be an option with a few of the activities.

9. Allow students who have worked on contracts to present their findings/work to the entire class or to a small group of students.

How do I grade contract work? Students who work in a manner which reflects the conditions set forth in their contract should automatically receive a grade of "A," which represents that they have mastered grade-level curriculum. Teachers should assess contract work and provide feedback through rubrics or other types of authentic assessment. If teachers are to expect students to extend themselves and meet challenges, we must make it safe for them to do so. We must not place them in a position of choosing an A on grade-level work or possibly a lower grade on more difficult, enrichment, extension work. If students do not perform at an acceptable level on their contract work, consideration should be given to returning them to the non-contract group until they can demonstrate a willingness to live up to the terms of their contract.

Where can I find additional information?

The University of Virginia (home of Carol Ann Tomlinson) maintains a web site with examples of differentiation strategies. Visit for information on a variety of strategies, including contracts.

Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom, by Susan Winebrenner, published by Free Spirit. Offers a wealth of practical ideas on setting up and using contracts on pages 47-59.

Rubrics for Elementary Assessment, by Nancy Osborne. (Available from ) Contains good rubrics for independent work.

Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom, by Diane Heacox, published by Free Spirit.

Differentiating Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All, by Gregory and Chapman, published by Corwin Press.

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