The purpose of this applied dissertation was to assess the effectiveness of having a full-time teacher coach at the school level who provided job-embedded staff development in order to increase the implementation of differentiated instruction in reading. The researcher developed and implemented training for a teacher coach on the following topics: (a) the knowledge and implementation of differentiated instruction, (b) coaching through job-embedded professional development, (c) professional learning communities, and (d) change theory. Intense weekly training sessions were held to develop the coach’s skills in order to provide meaningful, job embedded, sustained professional development for teachers. The researcher’s analysis of the data that were gathered during the implementation indicated that there was a positive effect on the teachers’ feelings of preparedness to differentiate instruction. Further analysis of the data indicated increased implementation of differentiated instructional strategies, resulting in increased student reading scores.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 2008 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Deeb P. Kitchen (Supervisor), Carolyn Buckenmaier (Advisor) & Maryellen Maher (Advisor) |
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