Teachers and their implementation of differentiated instruction in the classroom

Growing student diversity in today's classrooms calls for appropriate instructional strategies. Differentiated instruction (DI) is put forward as a key solution but seems challenging. In this study, actual DI implementation of teachers is linked to a complex set of variables: teachers' DI self-efficacy, teaching beliefs, teaching experience, professional development, teacher certification, and classroom size. The findings show that DI implementation seems high, but is still below a critical benchmark. The regression analysis results indicate 39% of the variation in DI implementation which can significantly linked to DI self-efficacy beliefs, higher constructivist beliefs and higher classroom size. Research implications are discussed. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.