ERIC Number: EJ801120
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1940-4476
EISSN: N/A
Effects of Interdisciplinary Teaching Team Configuration upon the Social Bonding of Middle School Students
Wallace, John J.
RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education, v30 n5 p1-18 2007
This study compared two configurations of sixth-grade students and core teachers to measure the students' perceived levels of social bonding with their peers, their school, and their teachers. One configuration featured a team of four teachers, each specializing in a core subject area and teaching this subject to all 100 students on the team. The other configuration featured a team of two teachers, both delivering multiple core curricula to 50 students. The researcher used three measures of social bonding to compare the two configurations--approximately 250 sixth graders in the 100-student/four-teacher configuration and approximately 250 sixth graders in the 50-student/two-teacher configuration. A sample of ten teaching teams was matched on size, SES, and percentage of minority students. A matched-paired set of t-tests was conducted for each measure of social bonding to determine the effect of interdisciplinary team organization. A comparison of the combined scores of the five schools of the 50-student/two-teacher configuration with the combined scores of the five schools of the 100-student/four-teacher configuration revealed that students' scores were significantly higher on all three measures of social bonding for students of the 50-student/two-teacher interdisciplinary teaching team configuration. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Grade 6, Attachment Behavior, Social Psychology, Team Teaching, Matched Groups, Likert Scales, Grouping (Instructional Purposes), Heterogeneous Grouping, Sensitivity Training, Teaching Methods, School Surveys, Middle School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A