A measure of teachers' attitudes toward the implementation of differentiated instruction

Educational reform relating to the increasing diversity in contemporary classrooms, articulates the view that all students, irrespective of ability, are to be provided with equitable educational opportunities. This has implications for classroom teachers, who are now compelled to differentiate instruction to cater for this increasing diversity. The attitudes held by teachers toward implementing differentiated instruction, however, are vital to the success of this endeavour, and may determine whether such policy shifts produce the desired outcomes. Arising from this premise, this project, which utilised Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour, and Bandura’s (1986) Theory of Social Cognition, as its conceptual framework, sought to fulfil three objectives. Firstly, the aim of the project was to design a scale to measure teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of differentiated instruction; secondly, the refined scale was then administered to a randomly drawn sample of participants; and thirdly, the project sought to identify key variables that may influence teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of differentiated instruction.