Effect of Differentiated Instruction and Assessment Strategies on Primary Four Students' Achievement in Mathematics

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of differentiated instruction and assessment strategies on the mathematics achievement of primary school learners in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. A concurrent embedded mixed-methods design was used. This comprised a quasi-experimental and semi-structured interview. The population of the study consisted of all primary four learners and teachers in Effutu Municipal. Mixed sampling was used which included a simple random sampling to select 2 private and 2 public schools. Purposive sampling was used to select primary 4 and a convenient sampling to select participants for the qualitative data. An intact class was used to obtain the sample which consisted of 204 learners and 4 teachers for the study. Mathematics test items in the form of pre- and post-test were employed to collect the quantitative data. The test items were piloted which generated a reliability coefficient of 0.73. Semi-structured interview guide was also used to collect the qualitative data. Quantitative data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. That of the qualitative were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings revealed that learners who were taught mathematics with differentiated instruction and assessment strategies significantly achieved higher scores than those who were taught using conventional teaching and assessment approaches. Learners were of the view that differentiation increases learners’ participation in mathematics lessons. The study recommended that differentiation should be adopted in all basic schools as it has the transformative potential to support diverse learning needs.