Co-Teaching for Inclusive Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative Research Project is to explore what strategies general education and special education teachers used to support students in a co-taught inclusive classroom environment. The primary research question that informs this study is: How does a sample of general education and special education elementary school teachers who work in inclusive classrooms effectively co-teach within their assigned co-taught subjects in order to support the learning needs and learning style preferences of students with special needs and how do they create opportunities for these students to be meaningfully included in the learning community? Data was gathered through three semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that the co-teaching model is beneficial for both students and teachers as its collaborative atmosphere supports student emotional, social, and academic growth, and allows teachers and students to learn from each other. Findings also highlight the important role that the school district and administration plays in supporting teachers through the implementation of the co-teaching model through both ongoing training opportunities as well as release time for co-teacher pairings to plan together. Compatibility of teacher personality is also deemed an important factor in successful co-teaching. The implications of these findings indicate that it is crucial for the district and administration to take an active role in supporting teachers and students with the co-teaching model and that a lack of support can exacerbate challenges that teachers and students may experience with the co-teaching model. The district and administration need to provide support through training and co-planning for both teachers. They also need to ensure that co-teacher pairings are thoughtful so that personalities complement each other.

Reading Comprehension and Co-Teaching Practices in Middle School English Language Arts Classrooms

“…In terms of specific coteaching models, teachers can consider their instructional goals when selecting when and how much of a co-teaching model is appropriate to utilize and which teacher would be most appropriate to lead instruction. The overall goal is that students benefit from the expertise of both teachers (Scruggs et al, 2007), but that is not what we observed. Teachers spent a majority of time using a co-teaching model characterized by one teacher, primarily the CAT, leading instruction (e.g., one teach-one assist).…”

“…Several types of co-teaching models exist (e.g., team-teaching, parallel teaching, one teach–one assist; Murawski & Dieker, 2004). Although the literature does not recommend spending a specific amount of time on any one co-teaching model, the assumption is that students will benefit from models that capitalize on the expertise of both teachers (e.g., team teaching; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007). Furthermore, certain co-teaching models allow SETs to play a strong instructional role in the classroom by allowing teachers to provide small-group, differentiated instruction (e.g., station teaching) rather than having one teacher dominate instruction while the other assists.…”