Taking on the team approach

~ Most education professionals say team teaching is a necessary and positive experience for students, but some parents disagree.

Usually starting in fifth grade, middle school students who have spent their years in elementary school being taught by one teacher in one classroom graduate to learning from a team of teachers. At Central Middle School in Cape Girardeau, one member of the teaching team might teach advanced math, while the other might teach the students in the standard math section. One teacher might teach all the English classes, while the other teaches all the social studies classes. The students do all their learning from those two teachers.

In sixth grade, the students still have only two teachers but have more interaction with each of the teachers. Students also get lockers. In seventh grade, students have more individualized schedules and more teachers.

By the time students from Jackson, Scott City and Cape Girardeau are in the eighth grade they are familiar with team teaching. Typically by eighth grade most students have their own schedule with different teachers and often do not have the same schedule as their friends. This gradual change from a single teacher prepares students for the class set-up in high school.

Most education professionals agree that team teaching is a necessary and positive experience for students. National studies show that by moving from class to class, middle school students are preparing themselves for high school as well as learning to interact with different teachers' personalities. Educators say the team teaching approach allows students to have a smoother transition between elementary school-type classes and high school classes.

"It gives them a chance to learn how to switch, but they switch as a group," Jackson Middle School principal Rodney Pensel said. "They travel together, and they're moving around, but there's still that comfort level."

Some parents disagree. At a town hall meeting with Cape Girardeau school superintendent Dr. David Scala in October, some parents said they are concerned about the way the teams are set up at Central Middle School and how team teaching affects their children.

One parent said her child's teacher clearly dislikes math but has to teach it because of how the teams are set up. The parent complained that her child had previously excelled at math but is now struggling.

Other parents said their children were being taught information in the fifth grade that already had been covered in the fourth grade and that some teachers were not happy about teaching in the middle school. That led some parents to take their children out of the Cape Girardeau School District after fourth grade and enroll them in private schools.

Thursday Scala said he has not acted on any of the complaints.

"Things seem to be working out much better," he said. "Of course we'll review it as the year goes on, but there's nothing on the table."

He said he is looking at ways to encourage parents to keep their middle-school children in the Cape Girardeau School District.

"We don't know if that's a major problem or not," Scala said. "The reports we get from staff and parents there say that things are much better there."

The Central Middle School opened in 2002. At the town hall meeting, principal Frank Ellis said the transition to team teaching in middle school can be difficult at first for teachers as well, but they adjust.

Mark Langenfeld, who has had three daughters go through Central Middle School, has only positive things to say about team teaching.

"I think it's favorable and is a good transition from single teachers," Langenfeld said.

Central Middle School sixth-grader Kenny Tiffany says Central Middle School is preparing him for high school. But he said he is not as comfortable with changing classes six different times as he would like to be. "Sometimes you have to go back to your locker to get all your books, and that's embarrassing," he said.

For students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and some special needs students, switching classes works better because they get to move around and release some energy every 50 minutes or so, Pensel said.

Both Pensel and Ellis said the set-up works well.

At Central Middle School the students are divided up into math classes based on their skill level, but Stamp emphasizes students easily move from one class to another as their skills improve to ensure each individual student is constantly challenged.

"The benefits are for each child to have the individual instruction at the level they need it," fifth-grade teacher Mary Stamp said.

Stamp also teaches social studies and language arts.

Improved learning is another benefit from team teaching, Scott City principal Paul Sharp said. Team teaching allows for thematic units one teacher alone wouldn't be able to do, Sharp said.

Teachers can introduce a topic such as ancient Egypt, and both teachers can incorporate information about it into their lessons for various subjects when working as a team, Sharp said.

Team teaching is also another opportunity for students to be involved and interested in a subject that they may never have expressed interest in.

Because of the size of Scott City Middle School -- only about 246 students compared to more than 650 in both Jackson Middle School and Central Middle School -- Sharp said he can't have as much team teaching in Scott City as his ideal because they share teachers with the high school and the elementary school.

"The kids enjoy it," Sharp said. "Teaching can be a lonely profession, but when you team teach, it's not that way."

Stamp agrees.

"It brings teachers together. They share things more readily, they stay together and ask each other for the best way to teach a certain concept," Stamp said.

ameyer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127