Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the actions necessary in a re-formed elementary grade level group for both teachers new to the group and existing members to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. Additionally, it looked at the characteristics needed to make a re-formed teams effective and if there was a difference between effective teams and ineffective teams. Methodology. An ex post facto, mixed-methods design focused on the purpose and research questions. The population consisted of regular education kindergarten to fifth grade teachers in Orange County, California. To obtain data from the specific teacher groups needed for this study, a purposive three-part sampling method was conducted using Harvey and Drolet's (2006) Survey of Effective Teams and questionnaires. Findings. There were no statistically significant differences found between effective and ineffective elementary grade level teams as to the actions happening or desired in re-forming teams to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. This may have been due to the inflated team scores of elementary teachers. Conclusions. (a) Determining "teamness" can be accomplished by administering Harvey and Drolet's (2006) Survey of Effective Teams, using a cutoff score higher than 3.49 due to elementary teachers having high team score averages. (b) Mutual Trust is referred to the most in the comments from effective and ineffective teams. (c) Conflict and Risk-Taking are "teamness" elements that are not occurring in teams. (d) A "smile" and saying "hi" are actions that occurred to almost all teachers, but shaking hands is not important or even an expected behavior. Recommendations. (a) Administrators need to understand Harvey and Drolet's 17 characteristics predicting "teamness" to be able to work with re-forming teams, and a higher cutoff score is needed to determine effective teams. (b) Building a strong culture of Mutual Trust is critical. (c) Grade-level teams need to understand Open Conflict and Risk-Taking are healthy team behaviors, and are to be supported as to how to work through these areas. (d) All possible modes of communication should be used to welcome staff, as this is a necessary first step to re-forming into an effective team.