GUIDANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING TOOLS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF TEACHING OF STATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN GIDO DISTRICT, NIAS REGENCY

Abstract

Gido District is characterized by hilly geography with limited accessibility, and the community's primary income comes from the agricultural sector. Socioeconomic diversity and seasonal migration patterns impact student attendance. Of the 245 elementary school teachers, 65% have a bachelor's degree, but only 35% have received brief theoretical training in differentiated learning. The main challenge is teachers' practical skills in designing responsive learning. Research shows a wide variation in student abilities, yet 85% of teachers still use a one-size-fits-all approach. The teacher competency gap is significant, particularly in learning needs analysis, content design, and adaptive assessment. Teacher Working Groups (KKG) are ineffective, focusing more on administrative tasks. Implementation of the Independent Curriculum and differentiated learning is still limited (in 20% of elementary schools). Consequently, student learning outcomes are below the provincial average. An urgent need is to improve teachers' practical capacity through intensive mentoring, the development of contextual models, and the revitalization of KKGs by involving local wisdom and resources.  The implementation method in this mentoring activity applies the Participatory Action Research (PAR) Program with the philosophy of "from teachers, by teachers, for teachers", facilitated by the service team. It is implemented in three phases over 6 months with an iterative improvement cycle: (1) Preparation Phase (Month 1): Identification of needs and development of contextual modules. (2) Implementation Phase (Months 2-4): Intensive training, direct mentoring in schools, and revitalization of KKG into a community of practice. (3) Strengthening Phase (Months 5-6): Monitoring, refinement, and dissemination of results. The mentoring strategy is adjusted to the teacher's competency level and integrates local wisdom of Nias. The results of the mentoring program significantly improved teachers' capacity in developing and implementing differentiated learning. This was evident in the 104-126% increase in average teacher knowledge, the production of 90 sets of high-quality lesson plans, and the transformation of the Teacher Working Group (KKG) into an effective community of practice. Classroom observations showed a drastic improvement in learning practices, such as method variation (+192%) and activity differentiation (+738%). Teachers also experienced an 81% increase in self-efficacy. The program successfully integrated Nias local wisdom into 100% of the developed tools. Initial impacts were seen in increased student participation (82%) and a narrowing of the learning outcome gap. The program's sustainability is supported by the adoption of the model in 10 schools and the strong commitment of all participants as agents of change.