Chapter 7: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Common Planning Time For Interdisciplinary Team Teachers: A New Look in the Era of No Child Left Behind

This qualitative case study assessed the benefits and drawbacks of teachers’ common planning time (CPT) at a middle school in Hawaiì and provided a teacher perspective about whether team planning should be retained during No Child Left Behind and similar federal reform efforts. The researcher observed 12 teachers on 2 interdisciplinary teams as they participated in CPT meetings and conducted extensive one-on-one interviews with 10 of those teachers. Additional data sources included school documents and researcher notes. The study was part of the multisite National Middle Grades Research Project (Mertens, Roney, Anfara, & Caskey, 2007) sponsored by the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. The researcher identified broad benefits of CPT—most importantly in teachers’ professional development through interaction, students’ academic and socioemotional growth, and the school’s overall effectiveness. Results highlight drawbacks of CPT as well, notably the scheduling of CPT, the development of teachers’ team skills, and the maintenance of needed team autonomy. Overall, results supported the value of retaining and strengthening CPT in the era of NCLB.