EXPLORING ELEMENTARY CONTENT SPECIALIZATION: BENEFITS AND CAUTIONS, PITFALLS AND FIXES.

Teaching elementary mathematics well is a significant challenge for self-contained classroom teachers who are responsible for teaching all content areas. This article reports on research findings regarding elementary content specialization (ECS), in which elementary teachers share classes of students in order to specialize in certain content areas, oftentimes manifested through a team teaching model. The research findings from this study relate to four takeaways: focus, professional development, instructional time, and student support. In addition, potential pitfalls and corresponding fixes with implementing ECS are identified and discussed. Teachers, specialists, and administrators considering ECS through team teaching may use these results, takeaways, and recommendations to weigh the benefits and challenges of ECS, as well as plan for best practice and potential pitfalls.