The Effects of Differentiated Instruction and Enrichment Pedagogy on Reading Achievement in Five Elementary Schools

Abstract

This experimental study examined the effect of a differentiated, enriched reading program on students' oral reading fluency and comprehension using the schoolwide enrichment model-reading (SEM-R). Treatment and control conditions were randomly assigned to 63 teachers and 1,192 second through fifth grade students across five elementary schools. Using multilevel modeling, significant differences favoring the SEM-R were found in reading fluency in two schools (Cohen's d effect sizes of .33 and .10) and in reading comprehension in the high-poverty urban school (Cohen's d = .27), with no achievement differences in the remaining schools. These results demonstrate that an enrichment reading approach, with differentiated instruction and less whole group instruction, was as effective as or more effective than a traditional whole group basal approach.

La différenciation pédagogique : représentations et pratiques rapportées d’enseignantes du primaire

“…La différenciation pédagogique fait partie des mesures censées favoriser la réus-site scolaire de tous les élèves (Garrett et Moltzen, 2011 ;McQuarrie et McRae, 2010 ;Reis, McCoach, Little, Muller et Burcu, 2011). Les milieux de pratique semblent partager cette position (American Federation of Teachers, 2012 ; Malgré le consensus dans le discours des décideurs (Commission des programmes d'études, 2002) et des chercheurs (Kozochkina, 2009) sur les bénéfices de la différenciation pédagogique, les enseignants ne semblent pas l'adopter de façon explicite et systématique (Conover, 2001 ;Lebaume, 2002 ;Prud'homme, Dolbec et Guay, 2011 ;Sensevy, Turco, Stallaerts et Le Tiec, 2002 ;Tomlinson et Demirsky, 2000).…”

Improving kindergarten teachers’ differentiation practices to better anticipate student differences

“…learning is the result of dynamic interactions among innate abilities, environmental characteristics and personal characteristics (Bronfenbrenner and Ceci 1994;Bronfenbrenner and Morris 2006;Gagné 2011;Heller 1999;Heller et al 2000;Magnusson and Allen 1983;reis and McCoach 2000). According to Bronfenbrenner and Morris (2006), children develop through everyday interactions with the environment.…”

“…Differentiated instruction in small groups can be beneficial for children of all ability levels with regard to achievement and learning behaviour in various contexts such as literacy skills (Al Otaiba et al 2011;, oral reading fluency (Firmender, reis, and Sweeny 2013;reis et al 2011), mathematics and science content (Simpkins, Mastropieri, and Scruggs 2009;Ysseldyke and Bolt 2007), and study habits, social interaction, cooperation, attitude towards school and general mental health (Gayfer 1991).…”

Reading Specialists’ Perceptions and Pedagogical Practices towards Struggling Readers

“…A variety of high-quality literature is essential to increase motivation and reading achievement (Reis, McCoach, Little, Muller, & Kaniskan, 2011). Books should be of high interest to the student and self-selected when possible (Ortlieb, 2010).…”