When Should Elementary School Teachers Specialize? Evidence on Departmentalized Instruction in Massachusetts

There are reasons to believe departmentalizing carries potential benefits but also risks in elementary school. On the one hand, departmentalization could allow teachers to focus on their strongest subjects and reduce lesson planning demands. On the other hand, departmentalization could threaten the continuity and strong relationships students can experience having a single teacher throughout the day. 

New evidence from CALDER suggests departmentalization in elementary school can work when schools match teachers to their strengths. Using statewide data from Massachusetts, CALDER researchers found elementary departmentalization improves student outcomes in English language arts and science, with some evidence of gains in math. These benefits were driven by departmentalized schools assigning teachers to subjects they already taught well. The bottom line: Departmentalization in elementary school can make sense if teachers have complementary strengths.