From School Leadership to Differentiated Instruction

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.