A qualitative study of the impact of a schooluniversity partnership in which eight teacher candidates from a two-year graduate program were placed together in a poverty level middle school was conducted. Teacher candidates in this particular program receive a master's degree, as well as a teaching license in their content area and special education. Using primarily focus group interviews with school leaders, cooperating teachers in special education and content classrooms, and teacher candidates, we wanted to determine the influence of the partnership on all stakeholders. We read transcripts to identify themes and coded by those themes. Later, we tracked the frequency of responses for each theme. We also examined learning gains data for students on Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and English Language Learners (ELLs) in content rooms in which teacher candidates taught, as well as interviewed a small sampling of middle school students. We found overwhelming support for the partnership across all stakeholders. Most frequently stakeholders noted cooperating teachers' increased ability to meet the needs of students with learning differences in their inclusive classrooms. This research contributes to the literature on the impact of school-university partnerships and co-teaching and on teaching and learning.

No abstract

No abstract