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Teachers Who Differentiate Instruction: A Comparative Study

Received: 20 October 2022     Accepted: 15 November 2022     Published: 6 June 2023
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Abstract

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a curriculum framework that focuses on the individual student. Students achieve because teachers develop lessons to the students’ readiness levels, interests, and learning styles. Students in early childhood through college have shown increased achievement when DI is implemented. The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to compare self-efficacy about DI and the frequency DI was implemented between first-year teachers and teachers with more than one-year of experience. The problem is teachers often do not implement DI in the classroom because it is perceived as too challenging. This study obtained information from 97 first through fifth grade teacher participants. The participants were randomly selected from 4 southwest Oklahoma elementary schools. A quantitative, causal-comparative research method was implemented to determine if there was a difference between teachers’ self-efficacy about DI and the frequency teachers implement DI in their classrooms. The findings from the One-Way MANOVA statistical test revealed there was a significant difference of p <.05 between first year teachers and teachers with more than one year of experience for self-efficacy and frequency DI was implemented. By investigating whether first year teachers or teachers with more than one year of experience were more likely to implement DI, the field of education will gain a better understanding on how to improve either teacher preparation programs for first-year teachers or professional trainings/mentorships for teachers with more than one-year of experience.

Published in Advances in Sciences and Humanities (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ash.20230902.17
Page(s) 58-67
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Differentiated Instruction, Self-Efficacy, First-Year Teachers, Field of Education

References
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    Stacie Garrett. (2023). Teachers Who Differentiate Instruction: A Comparative Study. Advances in Sciences and Humanities, 9(2), 58-67. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20230902.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ash.20230902.17,
      author = {Stacie Garrett},
      title = {Teachers Who Differentiate Instruction: A Comparative Study},
      journal = {Advances in Sciences and Humanities},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {58-67},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ash.20230902.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20230902.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ash.20230902.17},
      abstract = {Differentiated instruction (DI) is a curriculum framework that focuses on the individual student. Students achieve because teachers develop lessons to the students’ readiness levels, interests, and learning styles. Students in early childhood through college have shown increased achievement when DI is implemented. The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to compare self-efficacy about DI and the frequency DI was implemented between first-year teachers and teachers with more than one-year of experience. The problem is teachers often do not implement DI in the classroom because it is perceived as too challenging. This study obtained information from 97 first through fifth grade teacher participants. The participants were randomly selected from 4 southwest Oklahoma elementary schools. A quantitative, causal-comparative research method was implemented to determine if there was a difference between teachers’ self-efficacy about DI and the frequency teachers implement DI in their classrooms. The findings from the One-Way MANOVA statistical test revealed there was a significant difference of p <.05 between first year teachers and teachers with more than one year of experience for self-efficacy and frequency DI was implemented. By investigating whether first year teachers or teachers with more than one year of experience were more likely to implement DI, the field of education will gain a better understanding on how to improve either teacher preparation programs for first-year teachers or professional trainings/mentorships for teachers with more than one-year of experience.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - Differentiated instruction (DI) is a curriculum framework that focuses on the individual student. Students achieve because teachers develop lessons to the students’ readiness levels, interests, and learning styles. Students in early childhood through college have shown increased achievement when DI is implemented. The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to compare self-efficacy about DI and the frequency DI was implemented between first-year teachers and teachers with more than one-year of experience. The problem is teachers often do not implement DI in the classroom because it is perceived as too challenging. This study obtained information from 97 first through fifth grade teacher participants. The participants were randomly selected from 4 southwest Oklahoma elementary schools. A quantitative, causal-comparative research method was implemented to determine if there was a difference between teachers’ self-efficacy about DI and the frequency teachers implement DI in their classrooms. The findings from the One-Way MANOVA statistical test revealed there was a significant difference of p <.05 between first year teachers and teachers with more than one year of experience for self-efficacy and frequency DI was implemented. By investigating whether first year teachers or teachers with more than one year of experience were more likely to implement DI, the field of education will gain a better understanding on how to improve either teacher preparation programs for first-year teachers or professional trainings/mentorships for teachers with more than one-year of experience.
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Author Information
  • Department of Education, Cameron University, Lawton, USA

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