An examination of scholastic achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in self-contained and departmentalized classrooms

The primary purpose of the study was to examine scholastic achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in science and social studies in schools which had been organized in self-contained or departmentalized formats.A secondary purpose was to assess teachers' attitudes toward departmentalization at the elementary level.Fourth and fifth grade students in a large Indiana school corporation were the population. Random samples of 50 fourth grade students and 50 fifth grade students were drawn from schools organized in departmentalized and self-contained formats.Social studies and science test scores, subscales of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, were analyzed using a one-way multivariate analysis of variance. Two null hypotheses were developed to test the analysis of the students' achievements.Teachers judgments about departmentalization were assessed through the use of a questionnaire with findings reported in percentage of response tables.Findings1. Fourth grade self-contained students achieved better on the social studies measure, but showed no difference on the science measure.2. There was no significant difference in achievement on either measure for the fifth grade students.3. Teacher responses stressed that departmentalization did not meet the emotional needs of students as well as the self-contained classroom.4. Teacher responses emphasized the key factor in impacting students was the teacher, not the organizational structure of the classroom.Thesis (D. Ed.