Elementary teaming: Learning improvement or administrative ploy

Abstract

Olson defines teaming as an instructional situation where two or more teachers, possessing complementary teaching skills, cooperatively plan and implement the instruction for a single group of students, using flexible grouping to meet the particular needs of the ' We should not confuse teaming with cooperative teaching which does not necessitate the constant movement and regrouping of students. Team teaching began in the United States at an elementary school in Lexington, Massachusetts, during the 1957-58 school year. Since then it has increased rapidly in popularity reaching approximately 30 percent of the nation's school districts by the late 60s.2 Team teaching is the foundation of I.G.E. (Individually Guided Education),3 developed by the University of Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning. Six Wisconsin schools implemented I. G.E. in 1967, and by 1973 more than 2,000 across the nation, with the number growing every year, employing team teaching.4 In spite of its snowballing popularity and millions of dollars financial support,5 comparatively little research has been done on the overall effect on students in team teaching situations compared to the self-contained classroom.6