Differentiated Instruction in Grades 7 and 8 English Language Arts Inclusion Classrooms in Los Banos, California: A Qualitative Case Study

This qualitative single-case study examined how Grades 7 and 8 English Language Arts (ELA) inclusion teachers at Creekside Junior High School in Los Banos, California, used and appraised differentiated instructional strategies. Eight interview transcripts were available. Seven were provisionally analyzed as accounts of inclusive instruction, with grade assignments still to be verified for two interviewees. One transcript described a self-contained special education setting and was held separately. Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis generated six themes. Teachers reported maintaining grade-level learning objectives while varying modeling, organizers, prompts, and individual or group assistance. They described identifying the difficulty underlying a learner’s response, revising scaffolds that created or failed to resolve barriers, and using participation, student work, and independence to judge whether to continue or reduce assistance. Shared responsibilities created opportunities for support, while planning time, staffing, and competing classroom needs shaped which strategies teachers could sustain. The findings distinguish perceived instructional responsiveness from practical usefulness and informed the proposed Responsive Differentiated ELA Instruction Framework (R-DELA Framework). The interview accounts document teachers’ reasoning and perceptions. Independent classroom observations and instructional documents were unavailable for analysis, leaving implementation and learner outcomes unverified. The study recommends a school-approved pilot of the framework before wider use.