Team-Teaching and Academic Achievement

In the Winter 1977 issue of Review of Educational Res arch, David G. Armstrong (3) presented a review of studies that examined the effect of team-teaching on student achievement in elementary and secondary schools. Armstrong found a relatively small number of such stud ies, noting that the topic had practically disappeared as an area of research interest since 1970 (p. 79). In fact, Educational Index began listing articles under the head ing Team-Teaching in 1957, and fully three-fourths of the more than 700 present listings had appeared before 1970. Of the studies Armstrong did find, there were those reporting favorable results for both team-taught and solitary-teacher-taught learners, but most results revealed no significant differences in achievement scores. The pur pose of this article is to extend Armstrong's review of the effect of team-teaching on student achievement to include those studies dealing with the topic in higher education. Following some background information on team teaching, especially in higher education, the specific stud ies will be reviewed. Finally, conclusions and recommenda tions will be presented.1