Article #5

Article # 5

 "Examining Differentiated Instruction: Teachers Respond"

By Brenda Logan

According to Logan (2011), author of Examining Differentiated Instruction: Teachers Respond, "today's classrooms are more diverse than ever" (pg. 1). Logan introduces her paper by explaining that 21^st century classrooms are “defined by diversity” and states that “by 2035, students of color will be a majority in schools with increasing populations of children of immigrant and migrant families” (pg. 2).

After introducing her study, in order to find ways to differentiate for these diverse students, Logan starts talking about the review of literature she has conducted. The first literature Logan reviews surrounds the major principles of differentiation (pg. 2). Logan refers to many articles and principles dealing with differentiation including work from Tomlinson (1999). Logan explains that according to Tomlinson “teachers ought to focus on the essentials in learning, ought to attend to student differences, should collaborate with students on learning and should not separate assessment from instruction” (pg. 2).

Once Logan discusses the major principles, the second literature Logan reviews looks at the essential components of differentiation (pg. 2). Logan again refers to Tomlinson who classified three components of differentiation which include content, process, and products (pg. 3). Logan then refers to Langa & Yost (2007) authors of Curriculum Mapping for Differentiated Instruction, who suggests three different components of differentiation which are students readiness level, students interest level and students learning profile and then suggests ways to modify content, process and content (pg. 3).

The third literature Logan reviews deals with suggestions for implementing differentiated instruction. Logan refers to many authors and articles surrounding differentiation and suggests easy ways to differentiation. One suggestion Logan makes based on the literature reviews is for teachers to collect profiles of every students such as “learning preferences, family structure, hobbies, interests, and assessment scores” (pg. 4). In addition, Logan suggests that teachers need to take the time to reflect, evaluate and analyze differentiation. Finally, Logan says that in order to make differentiation manageable, teachers need to “build upon personal strengths and talents” (pg. 4).

The fourth literature Logan reviews considers the myths, clichés, and barriers within differentiated instruction. One cliché from the literature review was that “differentiation is just another phase and the pendulum will swing the other way soon because the emphasis on testing will not last forever” (pg. 4). One barrier is that teachers do not have the time to differentiate and that teachers do not have access to the professional development resources or administrative backing necessary for differentiation (pg. 5). One myth was that “the differentiated classroom has to do with dividing the class groups into bluebirds and redbirds (pg. 5).

The fifth literature Logan reviews looks at research studies and theories supporting differentiation. During the first part of this section of the literature review, Logan discusses how differentiation instruction was utilized within the classroom with a number of different content areas such as math, reading, science, social studies, along with different grade levels including, elementary, middle, and high school (pg. 5).

After discussing the five areas of literature reviews regarding differentiation, Logan then sums up the research. During this section, Logan states that “little research has been completed on the effectiveness of differentiated instruction” (pg. 7). Logan feels like there is a “need to add to the body of research about the factors that encourage and discourage teachers in attending to student differences” (pg. 7).

Next, Logan discusses the methods section. Logan explains that the purpose of her study is to learn what teachers identify as chief elements of differentiated instruction (pg. 7). In this section, Logan states her two research questions which are “will teachers agree on what is essential to differentiating instruction in the classroom and will teachers agree with the myths surrounding the practice?” (pg. 7).

Then, Logan explains the participants and setting of the study. For this study, Logan surveyed 141 teachers. Of the participants, 38 were male while 103 were female. Participants taught anywhere from 1 year to 35 years. All content areas were included in the study such as math, art, band, Spanish, special education and technology (pg. 8).

After discussing the participants and setting, Logan explains the research instrument. Logan’s study was based on a qualitative survey that was developed using data obtained from the literature reviews. The survey consisted of 16 questions dealing with the essential principles, the essential components, and the myths of differentiated instruction (pg. 8). The survey questions consisted of a Likert-type scale which asked participants to circle whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree and not sure (pg. 8).

Logan then goes into the analysis and results section. Logan explains the process of going through all of the data obtained from the surveys. Logan then goes through each question asked on the survey and explains what percentage of teachers agreed or disagreed with the questions asked (pg. 9).

Next, Logan presents the discussion portion of the paper. In this section, Logan says studies need to understand why teachers are not agreeing or disagreeing regarding differentiation. Logan also suggests that the problem of differentiation lies with the public school and that public schools need to spend more time training teachers. Logan stresses that "professors must, as much as possible, engage in professional conversations about differentiation by agreeing to serve as mentors to first-year novice teachers and by offering workshops on college campuses and at school sites" (pg. 10).

Logan ends the paper by stating that differentiation helps students reach their summits and potential. Logan feels as though schools have an obligation to modify to the evolving needs and stages of students (pg. 11). Logan believes teachers need to "move away from a pedagogy of scarcity to a pedagogy of plenty" (pg. 11).

Reflection

After reviewing Logan's (2011), article on Examining Differentiated Instruction: Teachers Respond, I had a new outlook on differentiation. Before reading this article, I did not really consider the clichés, myths, and barriers to differentiation. However, after reading her article I began to realize all of the different perspectives teachers have regarding differentiation.

I found Logan's article to be very well organized. For instance, she did a nice job at separating each section of the article using bold headings. I found her review of literature section to be very detailed and insightful.

I think Logan could have highlighted her research questions a little more in the article. Her research questions were not mentioned until the middle of the article in the bottom of the methods section. Although Logan did a nice job discussing her findings, I think Logan could have talked a little more about the strengths and weaknesses of her study along with additional ideas for future research.

I believe Logan's teacher survey regarding teacher's perspective of differentiation was very well planned and easy to understand. When I conduct research, I may use Logan's type of research format by creating a 15 questions survey based on the literature review I have conducted over the semester and using a Likert scale to obtain teachers responses regarding differentiation in the classroom. Logan did a great job at providing detailed information about the data she received from the surveys.

Reference

Logan, B. (2011). Examining Differentiated Instruction: Teachers Respond. Research in Higher

Education Journal (13). Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1068803