Teachers often identify time as a barrier to differentiated small-group instruction (e.g., time to prepare, plan, reflect, and practice; Bondie et al., 2019). Time in the daily schedule is a finite resource that is often beyond a teacher’s control. It is crucial for administrators and school leaders to plan enough time in the schedule for teachers to regularly plan for and deliver small-group instruction. This is especially important because the frequency of small-group reading instruction for students with reading difficulties is often related to its effectiveness (Al Otaiba et al., 2005; Hall-Mills et al., 2023). District and school leaders, recognizing their roles in supporting differentiated instruction, can allocate time not only to plan for and deliver small-group instruction but also to support teachers in using data to guide instruction. Because evidence suggests teachers often feel a lack of confidence and skill when working with data (Datnow et al., 2021), school leaders should provide teachers with professional development and staff support to help with effective interpretation of students’ assessment scores and other data sources to make decisions about small-group instruction. School leaders should also encourage and help teachers make time for the regular collection of progress-monitoring data to make decisions about changing student groupings.
ALIGNING PRACTICE WITH RESEARCH TOPIC PAPER 27
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