Effects of a differentiation strategy on seventh grade students' science academic gains

The purpose of this quantitative, nonequivalent control group study was to discover how a differentiated strategy, product choice, affected seventh grade students' academic gains in science. The literature review disclosed a gap in information concerning differentiation strategies' effectiveness in increasing students' academic gains demonstrated through traditional assessments. While much literature exists on how and what to differentiate for students, little exists supporting the idea that using specific differentiated strategies increases students' scores on traditional assessments similar to ones students experience on high-stake state assessments. Students in both the control and experimental groups took a pre-test assessing content of the upcoming science unit of study and instruction occurred on the pre-tested content. Students in the experimental group completed a differentiated product choice task whereas the control group reviewed with the teacher. All students took a post-test. Repetition of this process occurred with the same students for two different science units of study. The percentages for each pre-and post-test score were recorded and descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated and analyzed. Statistics from ANCOVA enabled the researcher to answer the research questions and accept or reject the null hypotheses (indicated by P > .05 for the F statistics). The statistical evidence indicated that none of the null hypotheses could be rejected. No effect could be found between the differentiated strategy, product choice, gender, or repeated use of the strategy upon science academic gains of seventh graders in a Midwest suburban middle school.