The Effects of Utilizing a Differentiated Model of Inclusion on Students with Disabilities Academic Achievement in Mathematics

The dissertation intends to explain the correlation between students with disabilities who receive services in diverse settings and the effects on student achievement. It offers that the implementation of a differentiated instruction model within inclusion classrooms provides a significant impact on Third, Fourth and Fifth grade students’ achievement in mathematics. The dissertation employed a causal-comparative design and utilized a quantitative approach to assess data that was gathered from an educational test utilizing a pre-test/post-test design. The data was analyzed using a measurement of the results of the independent variable and its effect on the dependent variable. The dissertation observed perceptions about how students with disabilities respond academically based on the setting in which they are educated within. It concludes that students with disabilities who are educated in the same setting as their general education peers show a higher rate of growth on assessments than their special education counterparts who are removed from the general education setting to be educated. Because the study was limited to one educational setting, the research may lack generalizability. Consequently, researchers are encouraged to examine planned recommendations further. The dissertation includes inferences for the effective development and implementation of an inclusive education model as a means of increasing student achievement in mathematics. The dissertation realizes an acknowledged need to study the most efficient ways to enable students with disabilities to be successful