Browsing by Subject "Differentiated Instructional Strategies"
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Item The Impact of Differentiated Instruction Strategies on the Academic Outcomes of Secondary English Students(2019-07) Tohn, Beth; Dwarte, Marquis; Coit, Tammi; Graduate Programs in Education; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine whether or not differentiated instruction improves outcomes for secondary level students in English Language Arts. The measurement tool was a district-created pre/posttest assessment instrument. During the study, treatment and control classes completed a lesson on characterization using the William Golding novel, Lord of the Flies. The treatment group participated in a differentiated, interactive lesson designed for diverse learning styles and multiple entry points. Using a t-test analysis, the study compared the difference in growth means between the treatment and control groups, and results indicated no statistically significant difference in the assessment outcomes. Instructor-reported improvements in student engagement suggest that differentiation may contribute to positive classroom climate which has been connected to improved performance. Further research on differentiation at the secondary level is recommended because differentiated instruction strategies support educational needs for more dynamic frameworks that prepare students for 21st century global citizenship.Item Process Differentiation for Academically Diverse High School Classrooms(2018-05-07) Malesh, Sarah; Masters of EducationThis study evaluated the effects of process differentiation on student literary analysis performance in a standard level 11th grade English class. Differentiation aims to help students of all ability levels succeed in diverse, inclusive classrooms. Process differentiation focuses on manipulating the “processing” part of a lesson, the part where students are learning new information, to help differentiate instruction for students. Literary analysis is a popular writing assessment for high school English students due to its use in standardized assessments, like PARCC. Literary analysis requires students to read multiple texts and compare their themes through a written prompt. The students in the experimental group of this study (n = 23) had differentiated process instruction based on ability level, whereas the students in the control group (n = 27) had non-differentiated process instruction when reading two texts. Results of pretesting indicated that the groups did not differ significantly in their ability to conduct literary analysis prior to the intervention. On a posttest literary analysis assessment based off of the two texts, the mean score of the experimental group (Mean = 6.04, SD = 0.88) was significantly higher than that of the control group (Mean = 5.07, SD = 1.00) [t(48) = 3.62, p = 001]. This provides evidence that process differentiation is an effective instructional strategy. Implications, threats to validity, and ideas for future research are discussed.