There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of elementary schools across the nation that have adopted some form of departmentalization in response to pressure for higher test scores, according to the Harvard Education Letter.

Education consultant Steve Peha has noticed the difference. When he began working with schools 15 years ago, presenting workshops in reading, writing, math, assessment, and test preparation at all grade levels, roughly 5 percent of the elementary schools where he worked departmentalized instruction. Now, he says, “it’s more of a normal thing,” and the percentage is closer to 20 percent. “It will continue to grow,” he predicts, “as the need for high scores in tested grades and subjects increases.”

Departmentalization, or platooning, means divvying up instruction according to subject area, with students rotating to different rooms headed up by different teachers for different subjects. It’s long been common in middle and high schools, but until recently elementary schools have remained a bastion of a one-teacher-per-classroom model.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News