TY - JOUR
T1 - Differentiated instruction in primary mathematics
T2 - Effects of teacher professional development on student achievement
AU - Prast, Emilie J.
AU - Van de Weijer-Bergsma, Eva
AU - Kroesbergen, Evelyn H.
AU - van Luit, J.E.H.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - This large-scale study examined the effects of a teacher professional development (PD) programme about differentiated instruction on students’ mathematics achievement. Thirty primary schools (N = 5658 students of grade 1–6) divided over three cohorts participated: Cohort 1 received the PD programme in Year 1, Cohort 2 in Year 2, and Cohort 3 was control. During the PD, teachers learned how to adapt mathematics education to diverse educational needs using within-class ability groups. In Year 1, the PD had a significant small positive effect on student achievement growth. The effect size was similar for low-achieving, average-achieving and high-achieving students. In Year 2, no significant effects were demonstrated. In sum, teacher PD about differentiation has the potential to promote the achievement of all students. However, implementing differentiation is not straightforward and future research is necessary to unravel which factors make PD about differentiation succeed.
AB - This large-scale study examined the effects of a teacher professional development (PD) programme about differentiated instruction on students’ mathematics achievement. Thirty primary schools (N = 5658 students of grade 1–6) divided over three cohorts participated: Cohort 1 received the PD programme in Year 1, Cohort 2 in Year 2, and Cohort 3 was control. During the PD, teachers learned how to adapt mathematics education to diverse educational needs using within-class ability groups. In Year 1, the PD had a significant small positive effect on student achievement growth. The effect size was similar for low-achieving, average-achieving and high-achieving students. In Year 2, no significant effects were demonstrated. In sum, teacher PD about differentiation has the potential to promote the achievement of all students. However, implementing differentiation is not straightforward and future research is necessary to unravel which factors make PD about differentiation succeed.
KW - Achievement
KW - Adaptive teaching
KW - Differentiated instruction
KW - Mathematics
KW - Professional development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044384586&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.01.009
DO - 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.01.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044384586
SN - 0959-4752
VL - 54
SP - 22
EP - 34
JO - Learning and Instruction
JF - Learning and Instruction
ER -