Islip School District discontinues fifth-grade departmentalization

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Since 2018, the Islip School District has implemented the departmentalization model for the fifth-grade class. Fifth graders at Commack Road Elementary School and Sherwood Elementary School have rotated classrooms and shared their teachers, who typically specialize in two subjects.

To the surprise of the parents of rising fifth graders, the Islip School District announced they are discontinuing departmentalization in fifth grade beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Therefore, fifth graders will once again only be assigned to one teacher.

“This change aims to foster a stronger relationship between students and their teacher, allowing for more cohesive and consistent instruction across all content areas,” read the announcement sent out to parents. “The new structure will provide students with a more stable environment and clear expectations, enhancing overall consistency.”

Many parents expressed their disappointment in the timing of the announcement itself, as they learned of the change close to 24 hours after the last day of school on June 25. The decision to discontinue departmentalization itself has been met with mixed opinions.

“I sympathize with everyone, and feel bad for the poor communication on the district’s part, but at the end of the day, the kids won’t suffer and the teachers will do great!” expressed Nancy Behringer, a mother to Islip students. “My son was before the change, my daughter was during, my third was a COVID kid, and they are all super smart, well-educated, well-adjusted kids.”

“Hate to sound old-fashioned, but the original model has worked well for over 40 plus years,” noted Victoria Berger, whose children also attended Islip Schools. “This was a new test model they tried in 2018, and clearly, it had drawbacks. All of the rest of us, and our (now grown) children, turned out just fine.”

During the July 9 board of education meeting, parents brought their concerns, allowing the board the opportunity to address any questions. Among the most frequent concerns were whether the district will have to pay additional costs for training teachers, and whether the students will have an more difficult adjustment in sixth grade, where students will now begin changing classes for the first time in a new building.

“Departmentalization allows educators to specialize on one or two subjects, allowing for greater lesson mastery and differentiation for all of their learners,” added Islip parent Megan Zarchy, while advocating for the departmentalization model.

Dr. Michael Giacchetto, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, shared that while many people perceive that teachers specializing in one or two subjects would create better instruction, the achievement levels of Islip fifth graders show otherwise.

“Looking at the data from i-Ready and state assessments, the success and achievement of our fifth-grade students has dropped over the years, especially since we began departmentalization. We have dropped further and further beyond the Suffolk County average in fifth grade, to the point that we were at one of our lowest points the school year before last,” explained Dr. Giacchetto. “We looked at where our kids are at the end of fourth grade, and once they reach the fifth, our numbers have dropped dramatically.”

Dr. Giacchetto also explained his belief that fifth-grade students would be better suited emotionally with the relationship to one teacher. He stated that research has shown that students do not have as close of a relationship as they do with multiple teachers than they do with just one.

Superintendent Dr. Dennis O’Hara shared that the change would not strain the district’s finances.

“All of our teachers this year underwent professional development for literacy—even those who were not teaching literacy, or ELA—this year, in anticipation that this might happen,” said Dr. O’Hara. “Regarding any professional development that teachers need going forward, we have a budget for professional development. This does not add to the budget; we just utilize the money for the areas we need it in. There will not be any extra costs for professional development.”

As far as the timing of the announcement, Dr. Giacchetto made his feelings clear.

“That was a major mistake,” he said. “That was something that should have been done some time in March or April, and had the opportunity to share the data, share the research, so you can see what we can see in our building, and see a different way we think will reach the kids better educationally.”

In an effort to continue to answer questions and share the data and research that reinforced their decision, the board of education and administration held a meeting on July 17 at 6 p.m. in the middle school library to give parents peace of mind regarding the change.