Minicontracts are useful whenever differentiated learning is required.  They may be needed because there is a range of motivation and readiness to learn in the room, because there are different rates at which students are learning, or because there is a bell curve of grades that needs to be addressed.  Minicontracts may also be important in addressing how students with different learning styles work on any given topic.

Here are a few examples of circumstances where it would be appropriate to create a minicontract:

Classwork

Students can be given a choice of how to use class time to master a concept has just been introduced.  Multiple activities can be made available based on the diverse needs of students. This kind of open work time is described in greater detail below.

Homework

If a new concept or skill has been introduced during class, a checkup at the end of the period will reveal who has mastered the material and who still needs more practice.  A simple contract can define a range of homework that will challenge every student appropriately. This could cover one night's homework or could last several days—or longer.  A single minicontract can contain both classwork and homework, giving students even more choice and leeway in their individual learning process.

Test preparation

When it's time for students to study for a test or other assessment, contracts can help individualize the review process.  As always, feedback from the teacher is important. This feedback could be a review packet or a pretest to help students understand their strengths and weaknesses.  The contract can then provide work for them on an individualized basis, aimed specifically at the issues they need to work on.

Exam preparation

For many teachers, this is a natural use of minicontracts, since differentiation can greatly enhance reviewing for an exam.   By identifying what each student needs to study to prepare for the exam, the review process can be tailored to her specific needs.  Replacing the traditional one-size-fits-all exam review with a differentiated review allows each student to study in a more effective way.  This strategy is explored in full in “Making Tests Meaningful”. 

Independent research / projects

Contracts can provide structure for research projects.  For instance, a calendar of milestones can be built into a contract, with a definition of the tasks to be completed by each milestone as contract items.  In a group project, contracts can define each member’s role, including the required work and schedule for each person. Different roles (researcher, writer, video editor, etc.) can have distinct contract items that define the work.

Test remediation

Formative testing requires a structure for remediation so students can learn from their mistakes.  Using a minicontract as that structure allows the remediation to be individualized. The test itself can serve as feedback to help students choose appropriate work.  Designing a test remediation contract consists of anticipating all the types of mistakes and misunderstandings students might encounter, and compiling a set of contract items that will give them the practice they need to learn from those mistakes.  An example of a test remediation contract is given below. The use of formative assessments is explored in depth in “Making Tests Meaningful”.