CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE:TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Joy Clauson, Suzy Dees, Julie Nourie

What you see and hear

depends a good deal on where

you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.

~ C.S. LewisTomlinson

Problem

Waning of Interest and Practices of DI

Federal Mandates and DI Increased Demands on

Teachers

Purpose

Facilitate Teacher Self-Reflection

Inform Administration Inform Staff

Research Question 1

What are teachers’ perceptions regarding differentiation within their own classrooms?

Research Question 2

What are teachers’ perceptions of support for Differentiated Instruction?

Research Question 3

What, if anything, hinders a teacher’s implementation of Differentiated Instruction?

Literature Themes

Defining DI Obstacles of DI Necessary Support Structures

Methodology

Online SurveySurvey Monkey28 Questions

Emailed Invitation to Participate74 Teachers Emailed29 Participated in Survey

Methodology (cont.)

Data Exported into Excel from Survey Monkey

Data Imported into SPSS from Excel

Analyzed Scores Using SPSS and Excel

Participants’ Experience

Category % or Number

Years of Experience

0-4 Years 6.9

5-10 Years 6.9

11-16 Years 37.9

17+ Years 48.3

Level of Education

Bachelor’s 10.3

Master’s Degree 87.9

Doctorate Degree 0

Perceived Effectiveness of DI

Overall Perceived Effectiveness of DI

Mean SD

Teachers’ overall perceived effectiveness of Differentiation of Content 1.78 0.68

Teachers’ overall perceived effectiveness of Differentiation of Instruction 1.61 0.72

Teachers’ overall perceived effectiveness ofDifferentiation of Assessment 1.705 0.65262

Perceived Support for Differentiated Instruction IN THEIR SCHOOLQuestion or Category

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

There are a variety of quality materials/resources available for me to use for me to differentiate in my classroom. 13.8 51.7 24.1 10.3

Administration is knowledgeable in differentiated instruction. 24.1 65.5 6.9 3.4

There is support available for colleagues for the implementation of differentiated instruction.

27.6 62.1 3.4 6.9

I have been provided training for Differentiating in my classroom. 10.3 51.7 17.2 20.7

I have opportunities for continuing education regarding differentiation. 20.7 48.3 20.7 10.3

Overall Support for Differentiated Instruction IN MY School 19.2 56.2 14.4 10.3

Perceived Support for Differentiated Instruction

Overall Perceived Support for Differentiated Instruction

Mean ModeStandard Deviation

Perceived Support for DI 2.158 2 0.85

Overall Perceived Effectiveness in DI Implementation & Support for DI in Participants’ SchoolQuestion or Category

StronglyAgree Agree Disagree

StronglyDisagree

Overall Perceived Effectiveness in DI Implementation 35.8 59.3 4.9 00.0

Overall Perceived Support for DI in Participants’ School 19.2 56.2 14.4 10.3

Correlation between Perceived Support and Perceived Effectiveness of DI

Paired Differences

t dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean

Std. Deviatio

n

Std. Error Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

Pair 1 Support – Effectiveness

.48148 1.00139 .11127 .26006 .70291 4.327 80

.000

Analysis – What does this mean?

Education/Experience As It Relates to DI

Post-Graduate Work Participants Highest Perceived

Strength

Analysis (cont.)

Uncertainty Regarding Differentiation of Assessments

PJHS Collegial and Administrative Support

ReferencesBlaz, D. (2008). Differentiated assessment for middle and high school classrooms. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

George, P. (2005). A rationale for differentiating instruction in the regular classroom. Theory into Practice, 44(3), 185-193.

Hertberg-Davis, H.L. & Brighton, C.M. (2006). Support and sabotage: Principals’ influence on middle school teachers’ responses to differentiation. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(2), 90-102.

King-Sears, Margaret E. (2008). Facts and fallacies: Differentiation and the general education curriculum for students with special educational needs. Support for Learning, 23(2), 55-62.

Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Nordlund, M. (2003). Differentiated Instruction: Meeting the educational needs of all students in your classroom. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press.

O’Meara, J. (2010). Beyond differentiated instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Publishing.

Rock, M.L., Gregg, M. Ellis, E. & Gable, R.A. (2008). REACH: A framework for differentiating classroom instruction. Preventing School Failure, 52(2), 31-47.

Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

References (cont.)Tomlinson, C.A. (2005). Traveling the road to differentiation in staff development: Teacher leaders can help

educators hurdle four key barriers to implementation. The Journal of National Staff Development Council, 26(4), 8-13.

Tomlinson, C. A. & Allan, S. (2000). Leadership for differentiating schools and classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

The United States National Center for Educational Statistics (2003). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/overview03/tables/table_10.asp

VanTassel-Baska, J., & Stambaugh, T. (2005). Challenges and possibilities for serving gifted learners in the regular classroom. Theory into Practice, 44(3), 211-217.

Walker-Dalhouse, D., Risko, V., Esworthy, E., Grasley, E., Kaisler, G., McIlvain, & Stephen, M. (2009). Crossing boundaries and initiating conversations about RtI: Understanding and applying differentiated classroom instruction. The Reading Teacher, 1(63), 84-87.

Winebrenner, S. (2001). Teaching gifted kids in the regular classroom: Strategies and techniques every teacher can use to meet the academic needs of the gifted and talented. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.

Wormeli, R. ( 2007). Differentiation: From planning to practice grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Yatvin, J. (2004). A room with a differentiated view: How to serve all children as individual learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.