Differentiation and diversity pedagogies together : a mixed methods look at teaching reading to 4th grade students in Hawaiʻi

Abstract

Increased diversity in our schools and changes in legislation have prompted educators to address the needs of all students (U.S. Department of Education, 2003, 2008, 2009; State of Hawaii Department of Education, 2009). Two major responses have emerged to do this. One is to deliver the same curricula in the same way to all students (Cooper, Madden, & Slavin, 1998; Madden, Slavin, Karweit, Dolan, & Wasik, 1991). The other is to deliver curricula in ways that address diversity (Gardner, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003; Sheets, 2005; Tomlinson, 2004). Leaders in Differentiation and Diversity Pedagogies suggest that educators need to do more action research and practical inquiry into classroom procedures and practices to begin to better understand how to meet the learning needs of diverse students (Sheets, 2005; Tomlinson, 2004). Students participating in a Success for All reading environment during their kindergarten through third grade years, and then participating in a fourth grade Differentiated Culturally Responsive reading environment provided a unique research opportunity. The first purpose of this mixed methods study was to evaluate the effects of the Differentiated Culturally Responsive fourth grade classroom environment on the reading comprehension and fluency levels of seven Hawaiian or part Hawaiian students on common school-wide assessments. The second purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the Differentiated Culturally Responsive environment's influence on the Dimensions that Link Culture and Cognition (Sheets, 2005) of the same participants. The results showed that the majority of the participants experienced growth above what was expected on the common school-wide assessments; and that all of the participants increased the number of times they displayed the Dimensions that Link Culture and Cognition in their reading response and observation journals, and during teacher observations by the end of the study.