The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the influence of instructional leadership on teachers’ reports of the use of differentiated instruction in their schools and to investigate whether higher levels of differentiated instruction positively predicted student achievement. We collected teacher survey data from a sample of 95 high-poverty, rural elementary schools in Michigan and student achievement data from the state’s standardized assessments. Comparing a series of means-as-outcomes models, our findings indicated that instructional leadership was positively and significantly related to teachers’ reports of differentiated instructional practices regardless of school demographics and prior student achievement. Further, using multilevel structural equation modeling we found that differentiated instruction was a positive and significant predictor of student achievement. These findings are consistent with the conceptual understanding that leaders can influence schoolwide instructional practices associated with improved student achievement. We discuss significant implications of the findings for researchers and practitioners.

中文翻译：

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从学校领导到差异化教学

本研究的目的有两个：检查教学领导对教师在学校使用差异化教学的报告的影响，并调查更高水平的差异化教学是否积极预测学生成绩。我们收集了来自密歇根州 95 所高贫困农村小学样本的教师调查数据和来自该州标准化评估的学生成绩数据。比较一系列手段即结果模型，我们的研究结果表明，无论学校人口统计数据和以前的学生成绩如何，教学领导力都与教师对差异化教学实践的报告呈显着正相关。更多，使用多层次结构方程模型，我们发现差异化教学是学生成绩的积极且重要的预测因素。这些发现与领导者可以影响与提高学生成绩相关的全校教学实践的概念性理解是一致的。我们讨论了研究结果对研究人员和从业人员的重大影响。