Identifying the differentiation practices of virtual school teachers

Area of Science:

• Education
• Online Learning
• K-12 Education

Background:

• Increasing K-12 student enrollment in online courses.
• Limited research on differentiation in virtual schools.
• Need to understand teacher practices in online learning environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore differentiation practices of virtual K-12 teachers.
• To compare differentiation strategies across different virtual school types.
• To identify challenges faced by teachers in online differentiation.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 19 focus groups with 92 virtual K-12 teachers.
• Analyzed teacher discussions on differentiation using Tomlinson's framework.
• Compared differentiation practices between teachers from two virtual school types.

Main Results:

• Majority of teacher comments on differentiation (definitions, assessments, curriculum, grouping, strategies) were categorized as novice.
• Newer virtual school teachers demonstrated particular struggles with online differentiation.
• Differences in practices were observed between teachers from the two school types.

Conclusions:

• Virtual K-12 teachers often exhibit novice-level understanding of differentiation.
• Effective differentiation in online settings presents challenges, especially for new teachers.
• Further research and professional development are needed to support online differentiation.