Empirical Study of the Effect of Team Teaching on Curriculum Delivery in Integrated Science at the Junior Secondary Level in Benue State

Team teaching enables simultaneous subject expertise collaboration in curriculum delivery, potentially improving both depth and breadth of integrated subject instruction, and its effectiveness for Integrated Science delivery in North Central Nigerian junior secondary schools warrants empirical investigation. This study empirically evaluated the effect of team teaching on curriculum delivery quality and student achievement in Integrated Science at the JSS level in Gboko and Makurdi LGAs, Benue State, North Central Nigeria. A quasi-experimental design was employed, with eight schools randomly assigned to team teaching (four schools, n = 240 students) and single-teacher instruction (four schools, n = 240 students) for one school term. Science knowledge tests and teacher observation ratings were administered at baseline and end of term. Curriculum coverage was tracked through teacher lesson completion records. Team teaching schools showed significantly higher end-of-term Integrated Science test scores (mean 70.6 versus 58.3, p < 0.001). Curriculum coverage completion was significantly higher in team teaching schools (92.4 percent versus 73.1 percent of planned topics). Teacher observation ratings of lesson depth were significantly higher in team teaching conditions. Subject specialist pairing (Biology-Chemistry) showed the greatest student achievement effect. The study fills an important team teaching research gap for Nigerian JSS Integrated Science and recommends subject specialist pairing guidelines for JSS Integrated Science, and school principal training in team teaching coordination as implementation priorities. Keywords: team teaching, Integrated Science, junior secondary school, Benue State, curriculum delivery