Teacher beliefs about effective strategies for teaching students with diverse learning needs

Dealing with diversity in classrooms today continues to be a major focus for teachers. Given the change in demographics, teachers are challenged to find effective ways to meet the needs of every child. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (1998), one in every three students currently enrolled in an elementary or secondary school is of racial or ethnic minority. Over the past ten years, enrollment of ELLS (English Language Learners) in our schools increased one hundred five percent (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2002). At-risk students make-up approximately twenty to forty percent of the United States student population according to the U.S. Department of Education (1994). Today, under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), more than five million of America's students qualify for services of determined disabilities (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 2000).;This change in classroom demographics has presented major challenges to teachers who are expected to teach these children in a heterogeneous classroom setting. To address this change, teachers need to vary teaching strategies and have a number of options available to them in order to work effectively with these increasingly diverse students. It becomes the teacher's responsibility to be aware of this diversity and apply instructional strategies that will meet the variety of learning styles and levels.;The purpose of this study is to explore teacher beliefs about effective strategies for teaching students with diverse learning needs. Faced with the changes in classroom demographics in recent years, professional development in the area of meeting changing student need is emerging as a common theme among school districts. What was once appropriate to teaching may no longer be effective given cultural, linguistic, socio-economic and academic variance in each classroom. Teachers may not be equipped to address the wide range of student needs. Teacher apprehension and/or fear of change can preclude some from implementing new practices.;To provide answers to the established research questions, a survey was developed to determine teacher perspectives on how to best educate an increasingly diverse student population. Also, included in the survey are statements generated not only from a thorough review of the literature, but also focus group discussions to inform and develop the portfolio in the area of student diversity as it relates to differentiating instruction in the classroom. The questions considered teacher beliefs as well as teacher practices in the classroom. A third set of questions detailed teacher recommendations for improvement. Finally, results revealed how district and participant factors related to teacher responses.;In general, teacher responses to the items were consistent and almost all mean scores were high. The results of the data analysis reveal that teachers do moderately to strongly agree that dealing with diversity in the classroom is important. Participant factors such as male/female, Bachelors Degree/Masters Degree, Elementary School/Middle School/High School, and Years of Teaching Experience did not seem to impact responses. Teacher recommendations for improvement included acquiring more resources and materials as well as needing more time to collaborate with colleagues. Teachers generally responded with high scores that ranged from moderately to strongly agree. There was a general consistency in response, with the slight exception of Middle School teachers.;When analyzing the highest mean scores for the teaching strategies teachers determined to be most effective ("Beliefs") and comparing them to the ways teachers believed they were meeting student need ("Practice"), it was determined that these mean scores did basically mirror each other. Also, teachers who perceived themselves to be highly proficient tended to give higher responses for "Practice" items. Therefore, teachers whose perceived proficiency with addressing diversity in the classroom was high had a stronger agreement in this section. Higher perceived proficiency is positively related to stronger agreement. It can then be generalized that teachers who have a high self-efficacy with addressing diversity therefore report greater practice more research-based strategies in the classroom.;The study suggests that there is a link between perceived proficiency and implementation of research-based strategies in the classroom. It is prudent for the district to provide professional development to familiarize teachers with effective research-based strategies to increase perceived proficiency. Teachers who perceived themselves as highly proficient tended to give higher responses for "Practice" items, indicating the likelihood that a teacher will utilize effective research-based strategies in the classroom. As teachers become more comfortable with implementation, they should perceive themselves as more proficient.;Future research in this area which expands to include a regional or multi-State data analysis where similar demographics and State laws are consistent can provide further insight into what teachers consider to be effective practices in meeting the needs of diverse learners.