Each year as the school year draws to a close, teachers and administrators begin to discuss new plans of action to make improvements in weak areas for the upcoming year. Often times these plans for improvement are centered around creating a high quality learning environment with high quality teachers along with improved standards based instruction. In many elementary schools, students are taught in a self-contained single classroom from one teacher who is responsible for teaching all subject areas assuming that the teacher is strong in all content areas of curriculum. A current focus in education is the debate of departmentalization. In a departmentalized setting, teachers teach students in their area of specialization and students move from one classroom to another for instruction. Over the past few decades, many schools have begun to implement this educational structure mainly in upper grades. However, now grade levels as low as third have begun to try this less traditional teaching structure. This review of literature will look at both advantages and disadvantages of departmentalization.
