The Impact of Differentiated Instructional Practices Upon South Korean Elementary Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine whether specific differentiated instructional practices currently used in many elementary schools throughout the United States by teachers who consistently employ a variety of instructional approaches to modify content, process, and products in response to the learning readiness and interest of academically diverse students will help South Korean elementary students in grades 4, 5, and 6. This study investigated whether the impact of differentiated instructional practices provided more opportunities for elementary students to learn differently through active class participation activities and become better communicators, problem-solvers, and critical and creative thinkers after the implementation of such methods over a period of five months by a pre-trained group of six South Korean elementary teachers. Two elementary schools in South Korea, that increased the integration of effective differentiated instructional practices for elementary students in grades four through six, will provide the data for evaluating the premise of this study. In the first phase of this study, the researcher collected data from teachers and administrators on what differentiated instructional practices are presently used by South Korean teachers. This study was limited to the pre- and post- video assessments of students in grades four through six; student work-samples; observation checklists; and pre-post teacher and student surveys. The study involved two hundred sixty six South Korean elementary students and twelve South Korean teachers. The performance of students assigned to six selected elementary teachers, who use differentiated instructional practices, was compared to the classroom participation of students assigned to six other selected teachers who used present traditional teaching practices in South Korea. A comparison was made between current teaching styles in the two sets of classrooms: six taught by selected teachers, who agreed to use at least one required differentiated instructional practice (e. g., independent study projects, learning and interest centers, tiered assignments) and six who used present South Korean teaching strategies.