Differentiation in Practice - An Exploration of First Year Teacher Implementation of Differentiation Strategies as Expected Outcomes of Teacher Preparation Program

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates how first-year teachers, trained in teacher education programs focused on differentiation, implement differentiated instructional strategies during their initial year in classroom practice. It addresses limited research on transfer from training to real implementation and examines how teachers apply differentiation across content, process, and product. The work also evaluates self-assessments, identifies perceived barriers, and compares differentiation levels under varying student diversity contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose of the Study

Research Questions

Significance of the Study

CIMLE Current Issues in Middle Level Education (2011) 16(1), 17-27 Differentiation in Practice: An Exploration of First Year Teacher Implementation of Differentiation Strategies as Expected Outcomes of Teacher Preparation Program Allison Nazzal, Ph.D. University of West Georgia Curriculum and Instruction Diferentiated instruction, or designing instruction to meet the needs of a variety of learners, has received much attention in continuing and higher education for severalyears and the middle schoolphilosophy has centered upon diferentiation asfundamental to efective teaching. Vast amounts of human and capital resources have been committed to improving the skills of classroom teachers to diferentiate instruction. However, very little research has been completed that investigates how well those trained to diferentiate instruction actually implement it in their practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate how superior graduates of a teacher education program that focused on diferentiation implemented diferentiation in their first year of teaching. The results of the study provide insight into some of the dificulties of moving beyond training to implementation. The middle school philosophy, as outlined in This We Believe (National Middle School Association, 2003), emphasizes the importance of instructional strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners. In recent years, individual strategies have been referred to in our professional vocabulary as the umbrella term“differentiated instruction”. Tomlinson (2001b) further refined our understanding of teaching strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners through categorization of differentiation strategies as it relates to students. Differentiated instruction has received much attention. The importance of differentiation is evident in the program schedules of educational conferences, published journal articles, and the syllabi of teacher preparation courses. Much has been published about the importance of differentiation and how to differentiate. Thus, those who prepare teacher educators have revised courses to focus on differentiated instruction as a key component of pedagogy. Much has been written about the importance of differentiation (Brandt, 1998; Gurian, 2001; Levine, 2002; Tomlinson, 2003; Tomlinson & Allen, 2000; Tomlinson & Kalbfleisch, 1998; ), differentiation in middle schools (Tomlinson, 1998; Tomlinson, 1995), differentiation strategies (Burke, 2002; Cole, 1995; Gartin, Murdick, Imbeau & Perner, 2002; Houk, 2005; Kajder, 2006; KingShaver and Hunt, 2003; McTighe & O’Conner, 2005; Owocki, 2005), and differentiation and assessment (Brimijoin, Marquisee & Tomlinson, 2003; Krumboltz & Yeh, 1996; Moon, 2005; O’ Connor, 2002; Sternberg, 2006; Tomlinson, 2007; Tomlinson, 2001a) . However, a review of the literature indicates that we have neglected to investigate how this training in differentiated instruction transfers to actual implementation in the classrooms of new teachers. Other research provides some insight. Bangel, Enersen, Capobianco & Moon (2006) investigated how a pre-service course and practicum designed to prepare students to meet the needs of gifted students impacted the students’understanding of how to meet their needs. Through triangulated measures, they found that students believed they understood the needs of gifted students after completing the coursework and practicum. However, this study did not include a follow-up examination of actual implementation of the knowledge and skills these preservice teachers felt they had gained, as new classroom teachers. Miller (2009) investigated how elementary teachers who had been trained (staff development) in gifted education and gifted identification applied their training when identifying gifted children. Comparisons of teachers with greater and fewer hours of training in gifted education showed no significant differences between the groups, suggesting that conceptual and skill training

FAQs

What is the purpose of this study?

To investigate, through observation, how first-year classroom teachers prepared to design differentiated instruction implement differentiated instructional strategies.

How does the study frame differentiation in classrooms?

It uses Tomlinson’s model of differentiation of content, process, and product tied to student readiness, learning profile, and interest.

What types of factors does the study explore regarding implementation?

It examines how teachers evaluate themselves, perceived barriers to implementation, and differences in differentiation levels or types across classes with greater student diversity.

Oct 15, 2026

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