I am asking for help in finding studies regarding 4th graders having 5 differnet teachers which mean they change 5 different times. They have two math teachers, two Language Arts, Reading, Writing teachers, one Science teacher.
I feel this is too much for any 4th grader to handle. Especially when in the same school the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are all tema taught with either 2 or 3 teacher teams.
I feel also the teachers never get to understand the needs of each student because they do not spend enough time with them to identify the needs. Not all students can be taught at the same level and expect to achieve thier goals.
I hope you can help me find studies that show this is counter productive.
Please explain how the system works. Are you saying that each student has math 2x in one day, or that SPED students are mainstreamed and then have a resource math class for support? Do your 4th graders have 5 different teachers each day, or on a weekly basis? Please give us more information.
My 4th grader has 5 teachers every day. 2 separate math classes (45 minutes each), 2 Language Arts classes (45 minutes each) and 1 science class. He changes classes 5 times a day. These are not support classes.
Last year the 4th graders were team taught. By talking to other parents I found out that they changed the format this year because one teacher who is an excellant teacher refused to be teamed with a teacher that was not up to par. Which in my book you don't put the entire 4th grade class at risk. You fix the problem.
Our 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th graders are all team taught. That is why I'm trying to find research or studies regarding this issue because i'm going to be meeting with the principal at the end of this week
While I am not familiar with any research for you to site, I do have some experience with this issue. Back in the 80s I was in a school in which we tried "departmentalized" teaching with the upper elementary grades, 4th, 5th, and 6th. The intention was that teachers would be teaching subjects which they enjoyed and in which they would be able to develop more expertise. I was in favor of the trial, and it turned out to be true that we teachers developed more expertise in our subject matter. However, it was not beneficial for the students, in my opinion, particularly the 4th and 5th graders. Those students were too young to move from room to room (or even have so many different teachers come into their "home base" room, in my opinion), and too much learning time was missed with all the movement and organizational issues, etc. I discovered that children that young need more nurturing and consistency than such an arrangement provides. Although it has become more common to use such a system in grades 5 and up, I definitely am not in favor of doing so with 4th graders and would prefer that 5th graders move into it gradually with maybe 2 or 3 teachers sharing responsibility for them.
Reply to Topic
Permalink
