Dr. Ron Hanson

The purpose for conducting this study was to determine the effects of the interdisciplinary team organization of teachers and students upon students' psychological sense of school membership, student satisfaction, attendance, behavior, and achievement in ninth grades which were housed in senior high schools. The population was composed of ninth grade students enrolled at two senior high schools. The sample consisted of 198 ninth grade students from both high schools. The pilot group was composed of 112 ninth grade students grouped into interdisciplinary teams along with their teachers. The control group consisted of 86 ninth grade students who were organized into a traditional, non-interdisciplinary team organization. Both groups of students were administered the Psychological Sense of School Membership Survey and a Student Satisfaction Survey. A comparison was made of the average daily attendance rates and the number of disciplinary referrals between the two groups. These figures were taken from the annual school district report for the 1998--1999 school year. An independent sample t-test was used to compare the groups' means and to determine if a significant difference existed at the .05 level. Student achievement was measured by comparing the grade distribution between the two groups in the subjects of math, science, social studies, and English. These figures were taken from the annual school district report for the 1998--1999 school year. A Chi Square test of Independence was used to compare the group means at the .05 level of significance. Results indicated that student psychological sense of school membership and student satisfaction did not differ significantly between the experimental group and the control group. There was a significant difference in student satisfaction with the professional behavior of teachers. Additionally, results indicated that there was no significant difference in achievement, attendance, and discipline. Therefore, it can be concluded from this study that during this one year period an interdisciplinary team organization had a neutral effect on attendance, discipline, student achievement, sense of belonging, and student satisfaction.