Teachers differentiate to three major considerations: readiness, interest, and learning profile. Matching instruction to students' readiness correlates strongest with academic growth, according to research.
"Learning profile is a fluid concept that includes how culture, gender, intelligence preference, and learning style might influence how a student approaches learning. Carol Tomlinson is quick to clarify that learning profile is not a synonym for learning style.
The "learning styles" approach to teaching has received a lot of criticism of late – particularly from three groups, Tomlinson told attendees at her ASCD Annual Conference session on the controversial topic."
You may find the slides that go with this article on her website: http://www.caroltomlinson.com/Presentations/2012ASCD_LearningStyleControversy.pdf
(The image is the first slide.)