The differentiated classroom observation scale

This article presents a new classroom observation scale that was developed to examine the differential learning activities and experiences of gifted children educated in regular classroom settings. The Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale (DCOS) is presented in total, with clarification of the coding practices and strategies. Although the DCOS was developed to examine the impact of differentiated classroom practices for gifted children, it is expected that the scale could be used for observing the educational experiences of any identifiable group of children. Reflections on the benefits offered by the DCOS that are not available with existing measures are provided, and include (a) the ability to contrast the educational experiences of two groups of learners; (b) documentation of a variety of educational factors including pedagogy, student engagement, and level of cognitive activity; and (c) preservation of contextual factors for deeper investigation through a database‐driven record keeping system that maintains disaggregated data from a series of short observational segments.