College of Education and Human Development

Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement

Differentiating the Curriculum: What Difference Does it Make?

This randomized experiment at the middle school level examined the differential effects of the “one-size-fits-all” approach to instruction and the instructional practice of differentiating the task so the “task fits individual” in a teacher-assigned and a student-chosen condition. The study examined the effects of these three conditions on a variety of achievement and reasoning behaviors for students of various skill levels.