About this session

Thursday, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Differentiated Instruction, Individualized Learning, and Response-to-Intervention in Early Childhood: Current Status and Future Research Directions

Individual differences in children’s classroom experiences are consistently associated with developmental outcomes in early childhood, suggesting that a single classroom can act upon children differently based on child characteristics (Philips et al., 2011). Moreover, children’s characteristics may differentially influence the impact of instructional contexts and content on children’s learning (e.g., Connor et al., 2008), such as the contexts in which students are grouped and the content of the instructional focus (e.g., phonics or reading comprehension; number identification or word problem solving strategies). Young children differ widely across multiple dimensions relevant to their learning: prior learning experiences; home support for learning; emerging academic skills; and social-emotional, cognitive, and behavior regulation, among others.

One way that teachers intentionally vary children’s classroom experiences is through differentiation. Differentiation - broadly defined - involves assessing students to understand their individual needs, then adjusting instruction or support to ensure that it is closely aligned to those needs. Differentiation goes by many names in the research literature, including data-driven instruction, formative assessment and data use, response-to-intervention, individualized instruction, and multi-tiered systems of support. Across these frameworks, assessments can include standardized tests, screening tools, benchmarking assessments, teacher-created measures, or teachers’ observations. In the early grades, differentiation often focuses on modifying instruction related to literacy, mathematics, or behavior.

Differentiated instruction is becoming increasingly common in American schools. It is strongly recommended by multiple education organizations [see, for example: the Association for Children and Families (Derrick-Mills et al., 2015); the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP, 2011); the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2013); and the Institute of Education Science’s What Works Clearinghouse (Hamilton et a.l, 2009)]. In addition, these practices are often required of teachers by school divisions (Hart et al., 2015; Shields et al., 2016). The principles underlying differentiation are grounded in core psychological principles that consider developmental and individual differences of students, classroom materials, and instructors as environmental influences on change.

Yet, differentiated instruction is challenging for teachers to implement (van Geel et al., 2019; Bondie et al., 2019) and has a relatively thin evidence base in pre-k and early elementary grades (K-2). In this session, we will take stock of existing research on differentiated instruction in its varied forms and then engage in a deep-dive discussion of next directions for this work and the research methods that will support new insights.

This session brings together experts in early childhood mathematics, literacy, and social-emotional development. Michele Mazzocco studies early childhood mathematical thinking from the perspective of individual differences in children’s numerical-specific and domain general cognitive skills, including executive function skills, on mathematics achievement over time. Traci Kutaka studies math development and social-emotional skills in early childhood and has studied the use of instruction grounded in Clements’ and Sarama’s (2021) mathematics learning trajectories to address individual math learning needs. Christa Haring is a researcher and speech-language pathologist with extensive experience training coaches to support the use of evidence-based literacy practices in elementary classrooms. Amanda Williford is a licensed clinical psychologist, early childhood education professor, and co-director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning. She studies classroom-based interventions that support adaptation and self-regulated behavior, with a focus on children who display challenging behaviors. Ginny Vitiello, the session moderator, studies individual differences in early childhood classroom experiences and differentiated instruction in kindergarten. She has experience implementing early childhood curricula and leveraging classroom observations to study child-by-environment interactions. This group of researchers will provide diverse perspectives on the challenges and promise of differentiation to address diverse students’ needs.

Questions for the Panel
Questions will be provided to panel members prior to the roundtable and will be subject to their feedback. We expect that each panelist will be able to contribute to the discussion of all of these questions. Topics for discussion and specific questions include the following:

Past Research
-What are the key differentiation practices currently in use or recommended for each developmental domain (literacy, math, social-emotional/behavioral)?
-What are the main conclusions we can draw from existing research on differentiating literacy, math, and social-emotional/behavior supports?
-What have we learned about what effective differentiation looks like in classrooms?
-What is the role of informal child assessment in the differentiation planning and implementation?
-What teacher training and support are needed to implement differentiation effectively?

Future Research
-Within each developmental domain, what are the most important next steps for this research? What are the key questions we need to answer in the near future to advance this research?
-In differentiating literacy or math, how should teachers take other factors (behavior, executive functions) into consideration?
-When, how, and why is differentiated instruction a threat to equitable learning opportunities, and what can be done to mitigate that threat?
-Are there specific differentiation strategies that require more research? If so, what are they and why might they be important?
-What more do we need to understand in order to scale effective differentiation strategies?

Research Methods
-What research methods are currently available to researchers interested in studying differentiation? What tools are available (e.g. for surveys, observations)?
-How do existing methods and tools shape what gets studied and what questions are addressed?
-What are the limits of existing methods and tools?
-What new tools or methods are needed to better study differentiation? How would these improve upon existing approaches?

In sum, differentiation practices abound, while differentiation research in pre-k-2nd grade lags behind. This roundtable will surface needs and challenges related to this research with the intent of moving the field forward conceptually and methodologically.

Differentiated instruction is becoming increasingly common in American schools. It is strongly recommended by multiple education organizations and often required of teachers by school divisions. Yet, differentiated instruction is challenging for teachers to implement and has a relatively thin evidence base in pre-k and early elementary grades (K-2). In this session, we will take stock of existing research on differentiated instruction in its varied forms and then engage in a deep-dive discussion of next directions for this work. This session will bring together experts in early childhood mathematics, literacy, and social-emotional development to discuss the current status of research on differentiation in each area, future directions for research, and key research methods needed to understand these complex classroom processes. The session will be moderated by Ginny Vitiello, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and early childhood researcher studying individual differences and child-by-environment interactions predicting education outcomes and child wellbeing. Differentiated instruction is becoming increasingly common in American schools. It is strongly recommended by multiple education organizations and often required of teachers by school divisions. Yet, differentiated instruction is challenging for teachers to implement and has a relatively thin evidence base in pre-k and early elementary grades (K-2). In this session, we will take stock of existing research on differentiated instruction in its varied forms and then engage in a deep-dive discussion of next directions for this work. This session will bring together experts in early childhood mathematics, literacy, and social-emotional development to discuss the current status of research on differentiation in each area, future directions for research, and key research methods needed to understand these complex classroom processes. The session will be moderated by Ginny Vitiello, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and early childhood researcher studying individual differences and child-by-environment interactions predicting education outcomes and child wellbeing.

Session moderator
Dr. Virginia Vitiello, Ph.D., University of Virginia, United States

Panelists
Michele Mazzocco, Ph.D., University of Minnesota - Twin Cities , United States
Traci Shizu Kutaka, Ph.D., University of Virginia - Charlottesville , United States
Christa Haring, University of Virginia , United States
Dr. Amanda P. Williford, Ph.D., University of Virginia - Charlottesville , United States

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