Instructional Climate and Student Learning: An Examination of the Meaning, Measure, and Impact of Group Norms for Differentiated Instruction

• In Event: Dimensions of Communication: School and District Culture, Climate, and Efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to extend previous work on shared expectations in schools about how teachers work with their students in the classroom. Building on well-established research on the relationship between school climate and student achievement, this study examines the meaning, measure and impact of school instructional climate for differentiated instruction. Findings indicate that a new measure of school norms for differentiated instruction is strongly supported by confirmatory factor analysis. And, using data collected from a sample of 95 high poverty rural schools, multilevel structural equation model results indicate that group norms for differentiated instruction are strong positive and statistically significant predictors of student achievement with roughly double the effect size associated with socioeconomic status.

Authors

• Roger D. Goddard, The Ohio State University

• Lauren P. Bailes, The Ohio State University

• Robert Nichols, The Ohio State University

• Yvonne L. Goddard, The Ohio State University - Columbus