Inequality in education is a significant social problem and appears as a challenge for current national policies around the world. Specifically, in Russia equal access to educational resources is facilitated by implementing both differentiated and inclusive approaches in primary and secondary schools. Although the idea of a “differentiated approach” has long been in circulation in the Russian education system, little scholarly attention has been paid to teachers’ beliefs about the most effective ways of grouping students, and how they choose which teaching practices to apply. Moreover, there is no consensus in scientific or public discourse about the underlying principles that allow the differentiated approach to work. Documenting and analyzing educator beliefs through qualitative research helps to establish a foundation for understanding how and why Russian educators employ a differentiated teaching strategy in the classroom, what effects this practice has on broader social inequality, as both derived from and expressed through students’ access to educational resources.

Thus, the current study is aimed to research teachers’ beliefs about principles and possibilities of applying the differentiated approach in math education. In this research, the following questions will be answered:

1. How do math teachers understand the basic ideasprinciples of the differentiated approach and how do they apply it in classrooms?

2. How do the teachers see the work with students of different levels and what kind of requirements and expectations do they have for student achievements?

3. How do the teachers interpret a nature of math abilities and motivation to learn a subject?

Oakes, J. (1985). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Jorgensen, R., Gates, P., & Roper, V. (2014). Structural exclusion through school mathematics: using Bourdieu to understand mathematics as a social practice. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 87(2), 221–239. Hanushek, E., & Woßmann, L. (2006). Does educational tracking affect performance and inequality? Differences-in-differences evidence across countries. Economic Journal, 116, 63–76. Rosenbaum, J. E. (1976). Making inequality: The hidden curriculum of high school tracking. New York: Wiley. Charmaz, K. (2006), Constructing Grounded Theory. A practical guide through qualitative analysis, London, Sage Publication. Davies, P. (2000). Differentiation: Processing and understanding in teachers’ thinking and practice. Educational Studies, 26(2), pp. 191-203. Hallinan, M.T., Bottoms, E., Pallas, A.M. & Palla, A.M. (2003) Ability Grouping Student Learning. Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 6, pp. 95–140.