ERIC Number: ED652723
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Apr
Pages: 64
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Departmentalized Instruction and Elementary School Effectiveness. Working Paper No. 298-0424
Ben Backes; James Cowan; Dan Goldhaber
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER)
Departmentalized instruction, in which teachers specialize in one or more core subjects and instruct multiple groups of students in a day, has become increasingly prominent in elementary schools. Using 8 years of data from Massachusetts and a difference-in-differences design, we estimate the effects of departmentalization on student achievement. We find that departmentalization has positive effects in English language arts (ELA) and science and mixed evidence of positive effects in math. These positive effects are not driven by teacher productivity improvements: Consistent with prior findings on teacher specialization, teachers are less effective when specializing in math and no more effective in ELA than when teaching self-contained classrooms. Rather, consistent with the theoretical underpinnings for specialization, departmentalized schools tend to assign teachers to their stronger subjects.
Descriptors: Elementary Schools, School Effectiveness, Departments, Teaching Methods, Specialization, Elementary School Teachers, Academic Achievement, Elementary School Students, Teacher Effectiveness, Self Contained Classrooms
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007. Tel: 202-403-5796; Fax: 202-403-6783; e-mail: info@caldercenter.org; Web site: https://caldercenter.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) at American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A210008