rceptions of their degree of satisfaction with their experiences during their involvement with the team teaching program; b) determine teachers and students' opinions of selected program outcomes; and c) compare the two groups for differences in either their experiences or opinions.
According to Papalia & Olds (1995), today's public schools are suffering from a variety of ills, one of which is a low level of student achievement and performance in school. In an effort to increase student learning/achievement, several innovative instructional methods and curricula have been planned, implemented and tested----all with mixed results (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993).
However, among the new approaches, team teaching stands out as an instructional method repeatedly associated with positive learning outcomes for students as well as positive outcomes for teachers, especially at the middle school level (Hassler, 1994). It seemed reasonable, therefore, to utilize the team teaching approach at Marshall Middle School.
The significance of the evaluation being made of the program at this school is found in the fact that it will add data to that being compiled about team teaching and therefore help educators to more fully understand its impact and scope on both students and teachers. Moreover, while the team teaching approach has been repeatedly investigated in the research, there has not been much comparative research examining whether teachers and students' opinions and experiences of the programs differ. Thus, the comparative aspect of this study adds to an under-researched area of the existing knowledge base.
The study's research questions are:
1. How satisfied were students and teachers regarding their general experiences with the team teaching program and does their degree of satisfaction with their experiences significantly differ?
2. To what extent were teachers and students satisfied that the program produced gains in...