Differentiated Instruction

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN THE
ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM

A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

BY
BRIAN E. SCOTT
APPROVED BY:

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Dr. Patricia Clark, Committee Chairperson

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Dr. Nancy Melser, Committee Member

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Dr. Nancy Brooks, Committee Member

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Dr. William Sharp, Committee Member

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Scott
DEGREE: Doctor of Education
COLLEGE: Teachers College
DATE: March 2012
PAGES: 96
This study was conducted to determine if differentiated instruction improved student growth. The overall effectiveness was studied as well as that of gender and the aptitude of average and above average students. The study was that of a quasiexperimental design using student subjects in the classrooms of three second-grade teachers. The school in the study was located in an affluent suburb outside of a major city in the Midwest. This quantitative study concluded that differentiated instruction did not have an overall effectiveness at a significant level. Students with a higher academic ability benefited significantly with opportunity to be challenged at a higher level while students of average ability did not. There was no significant difference between the achievement of males and females.

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ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS
I want to first thank Dr. Patricia Clark for her guidance, encouragement, and resourcefulness in directing me towards faculty that would be the most helpful in achieving my goal. I appreciate the time given by Dr. Michael Putman as this quantitative research design was implemented. I appreciate the input and support of
Because students received the necessary modifications to meet their specific learning needs, either more challenging or layered in order to achieve mastery,
Tieso also found that students did not lose their sense of self-concept or self-efficacy.
Assessment is a key component of flexible grouping. It can take varied forms, but it should occur before, during, and at the conclusion of a unit of study. Witham and
Linehan (1995) reported through survey findings of 109 teachers that slightly more than half of the teachers at that time felt that pretests were worth the effort and should be used more often. Teachers with master‘s degree endorsements had a more positive attitude about pretests than those who did not. This leads to the conclusion that slightly less than half of the those who responded felt they were too time consuming, unnecessary, not applicable to certain subjects, and not practical. The authors further reported that