In order to respond to the growing academic diversity in classrooms, teachers must recognize that their students have different needs and commit to differentiating instruction accordingly; however, the relationship between teachers' willingness and ability to differentiate instruction and principals' attitudes toward differentiation is unknown. In…

The teachers described here represent four categories of teacher response that staff developers often confront when working with teachers on differentiating instruction. Some teachers respond with enthusiasm; others respond with frustration and sometimes even anger. The mixed responses from teachers are understandable; for many teachers,…

The student population in contemporary public middle schools is growing increasingly more diverse. While heterogeneously grouped classrooms are consistent with middle school philosophy as well as recommendations from leading middle school advocacy groups, many teachers in these settings seem to downplay the differences among the students and…