Decision Making Criteria

• The categories for the analysis of classroom type for elementary schools can include teacher/student relationships, consistency as a student need, mastery in a subject area, use of time, and collaboration.
• Educational administrators usually base their decisions on the organization of grade levels on assorted factors, including "their own experiences, contextual dynamics, and personal perceptions of outcomes for students and teachers."

Effect by Subject Matter

• Departmentalization had a small positive association with higher teaching effectiveness ratings in ELA classes.
• Classroom format was not a significant predictor of achievement in ELA or math. 
• Both the departmentalized and self-contained models of instruction can help students achieve strong mathematics scores on standardized tests.
• School administrators must consider their teachers and students when deciding on an instructional model.

General Analysis from the article "DEPARTMENTALIZED OR SELF-CONTAINED: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLASSROOM CONFIGURATION AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT (2013)

•  Three conclusions were described.
• "First, classroom configuration had no meaningful impact on student achievement in English Language Arts as measured by the CST.
• Second, classroom configuration had no meaningful impact on student achievement in math as measured by the CST.
• Third, departmentalized teachers did not differ significantly on opinions of the instructional benefits of each configuration when compared to self-contained teachers."