Teachers’ experiences with co-teaching as a model for inclusive education

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy that can be implemented by educators in several different ways. This paper considers how frequently co-teachers implement different approaches to co-teaching and what factors are associated with the implementation of these approaches. This study found that teachers most frequently reported implementing an approach to co-teaching in which one teacher designs and delivers a lesson and the other teacher provides individualised support to specific students with disabilities. The approach to co-teaching in which educators co-plan and co-instruct different components of the curricular content occurred the least frequently. The results of logistic regression analyses indicated that structural aspects of co-teaching (multiple years with co-teacher, time spent daily with co-teacher, number of current co-teachers), teacher attitudes, and professional development opportunities (pre-service and in-service) were associated with the use of different approaches to co-teaching.     

Teachers’ views of co-teaching approaches in addressing pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in multi-grade classrooms

This study focused on primary teachers’ views of co-teaching approaches in addressing the learning needs of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in multi-grade classrooms in Irish primary schools. A case study incorporating a mixed methods approach was chosen. Views of 22 multi-grade and special education teachers (SET) were ascertained through self-administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that while teachers believe the learning needs of pupils with SEN can be met through co-teaching approaches, the withdrawal of pupils for supplementary support remains the dominant approach. Teachers indicate that they would prefer a combination of withdrawal and in-class support as opposed to choosing one approach over the other. Teachers refer to the challenges posed by co-teaching in delivering instruction for pupils with SEN including planning time, teaching personalities and teaching styles in the multi-grade context. When co-teaching does occur, the most common form used is station teaching. The data demonstrate that teachers lack a clear understanding of the various in-class approaches available and what exactly they entail, and point to teachers’ desire for continuing professional development (CPD) specific to co-teaching.     

Modeling Collaboration for Middle-Level Teacher Candidates Through Co-Teaching

The purpose of this analysis was to determine if the implementation of co-teaching was an effective instructional practice for graduate-level teacher candidates (hence forth referred to as candidates) in a Middle Childhood Education cohort. The goals were to determine (1) if co-teaching promoted candidate learning and (2) if co-teaching provided effective modeling for the candidates so they would be able to utilize it in their own future classrooms. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed from course evaluations and pre- and post-surveys. Results indicated that candidates' educational experiences were enhanced as a result of the co-teaching experience, particularly with the use of team teaching, parallel teaching, and station teaching strategies. Additionally, evidence suggests that the use of co-teaching provided effective modeling for the candidates.     

Special education and general education preservice teachers’ co-teaching experiences: a comparative synthesis of qualitative research

Co-teaching is commonly used to support students with disabilities in inclusive educational settings. However, there is often a gap between the potential effectiveness of co-teaching and actual classroom practice. This study examined preservice teachers’ co-teaching experiences to better understand this gap to identify potential practices for improving teacher training and service delivery. A review of 11 studies revealed that both special education and general education preservice teachers believed that co-teaching practices provided them opportunities to communicate and work collaboratively. Both groups agreed on the significant impact of personality in co-teaching as well as challenges in implementing co-teaching. Furthermore, special education preservice teachers noted that they lacked content knowledge, whereas general education preservice teachers thought they needed more training in the provision of accommodations and modifications. Study limitations, areas for future research, and implications for preservice teacher preparation are discussed.     

How common are inclusive educational practices among Finnish teachers?

Several instructional strategies have been recommended for use in heterogeneous classrooms, but the frequency of their actual use has remained largely unknown. Therefore, an electronic survey was sent to Finnish comprehensive school teachers (N?=?2276) in order to assess the prevalence of three selected inclusive strategies: co-teaching, group work, and differentiation. The results showed that co-teaching was used by 42% and group work by 43% of the teachers at least on a weekly basis, while differentiation was used regularly by 83% of teachers. The application of all strategies was strongly associated with teacher category, with subject teachers using them less frequently than classroom teachers or special education teachers. There was a linear trend indicating that these teaching strategies were more prevalent in bigger municipalities and among younger teacher groups. Their use was also more prevalent among female than male teachers. Additionally, among classroom teachers, their usage was associated with a more positive attitude towards inclusive education. Among classroom and subject teachers, their use was also associated with a higher sense of teacher efficacy. It is suggested that subject teachers in particular need to use more versatile teaching strategies to strengthen their ability to cope with student diversity.     

Implementing co-teaching with paraprofessionals to provide pre-Kindergarten students with special rights access to dual language

The purpose of this study was to examine how paraprofessionals and other service providers participate in co-teaching with a certified special education pre-Kindergarten teacher during dual language (DL) instruction. The study took place in two DL special education preschool classrooms located in an urban public school district in the southwestern US. The district enlisted paraprofessionals as lead Spanish instructors when the lead teacher was not bilingual in Spanish and English to implement the DL programme effectively. Participants were one special education teacher, two paraprofessionals and one teaching artist, who participated in a year-long professional development programme to employ drama strategies to develop children's Spanish and English literacy skills and promote inclusion. Findings indicated that the participants utilised multiple co-teaching models to collaborate and meet the needs of their students during English and Spanish instruction. Through co-teaching, all educators had opportunities to take lead and supporting roles in instruction.     

Using students’ drawings to elicit general and special educators’ perceptions of co-teaching

This paper describes the findings of a study of general and special educators’ perceptions of co-teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms. A total of 85 students, 20 general education, and 11 special education teachers participated in this investigation in which student drawings were used as both data and as tools to spark teacher reflection. Students’ pictorial depictions of co-teaching were analyzed for apparent features and traits. Co-teachers’ reactions to the drawings were springboards for reflective conversations around modifications they felt needed to take place to improve co-teaching. Findings suggest that proactive role distribution, support structures, and trust building are critical factors in strengthening co-teaching. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Ways of composing teaching teams and their impact on teachers’ perceptions about collaboration

The present study examined the impact of teacher team composition on characteristics and attributes regarded as necessary for effective cooperative teaching. The study focused on potential differences between self-selected teacher teams and teams composed by the school administration. The central assumptions were that teachers working in self-selected teacher teams show more positive ratings of enjoyment, shared responsibility, job satisfaction and collective self-efficacy expectations than teachers who worked in institutionally composed teams. In order to investigate these hypotheses, an online survey was created. 321 language arts teachers participated in the survey. MANCOVA revealed significant differences in the dimensions ‘shared responsibility’ and ‘enjoyment with the co-teaching process’, where teachers from self-selected teaching teams showed significantly more positive ratings. These results support the assumption that self-selection of the team-mate is helpful for establishing compatible teaching teams, but does not necessarily lead to a higher quality of collaborative teaching.     

Efficacy Perceptions of Preservice and Inservice Teachers in China: Insights Concerning Culture and Measurement

This study comprises the second stage of a research program in which sense of efficacy for teaching (SET) was investigated in Chinese mainland preservice and inservice teachers (PSTs and ISTs, respectively). Scores on SET were calculated and described, and SET comparisons were made between and within PSTs and ISTs. Relative to PSTs, ISTs had higher SET; within both the PSTs and IST samples there were no gender differences; but among ISTs there were some associations of SET with years of teaching, teacher roles, and whether the schools were categorized as advanced or standard. Tentative comparisons are drawn concerning SET in Chinese and Western contexts, and recommendations are made concerning effective measurement of teacher sense of efficacy in China and elsewhere.     

What they notice in video: a study of prospective secondary mathematics teachers learning to teach

Most teacher preparation programs have embraced the use of video as an effective methodology for developing teachers’ noticing skills. This study focused on learning about what secondary mathematics prospective teachers (PSTs) were able to notice when viewing video of their own co-teaching, particularly in a microteaching setting that consisted of peers. PSTs documented their observations on an observation tool while re-watching their video and then identified and ranked their top three observations. The ranked noticing statements were analyzed based on a grounded theory approach. Overall, PSTs’ ranked observations were more likely to attend to students and had a strong focus on mathematics and student learning. Ranked observations equally demonstrated both broad and specific understanding of video moments and often made suggestions that something they noticed could be improved in the implementation stage, versus improvements in planning or changes in themselves. Results support PSTs’ use of video for developing noticing skills in teacher education programs.     

A one-year study of the development of co-teaching in four Finnish schools

In this follow-up study, development of co-teaching was studied in four different schools in Helsinki, Finland. Teachers, altogether 54, 51 and 26, respectively, responded to an electronic questionnaire three times during one year. The attitudes towards co-teaching were positive although the frequency of co-teaching remained low. Co-teaching was seen as a developing mode of teaching and it was said to be suitable for all school subjects. Special teachers and class teachers had the most experience with co-teaching. The majority of respondents co-taught 2–5 lessons per week and that did not change during the follow-up, although monetary incentive was available to those who increased their co-teaching during the study period. For class-teachers, another class-teacher was most often the chosen co-teaching partner. Special teachers were frequent co-teaching partners for all teachers. The most common reason for not co-teaching was the lack of planning time. However, 15 minutes were considered enough to plan one lesson. The respondents had no education about co-teaching. Receiving more attention was the most often mentioned benefit of co-teaching for the students. Sharing and well-being were regarded as the greatest benefits of co-teaching for the teachers. The advantages and obstacles of co-teaching are discussed and some practical advice is given.     

Co-teaching in the college classroom

This paper serves as a phenomenological reflection about the meaning of a co-teaching experience at the college level for two graduate teaching assistants. When two teachers combine planning and teaching efforts it is called co-teaching. As a pedagogical method for both instructors and students, co-teaching was beneficial because it modeled a collaborative teaching style required of the students in their curricular work. Utilizing the interpretivist discourse of phenomenology, the authors dialog about the meaning each makes of the coursework, the pedagogy, the students, and the teacher effectiveness through a co-teaching model. The dialog and reflection on the phenomenon of co-teaching contributes to more productive co-teaching instruction for pre-service teacher instructors.     

A collaborative,collegial and more cohesive approach to supporting educational reform for inclusion in Hong Kong

Together with the many advantages incurred by educational reform there are concomitantly a number of challenges that have to be addressed. In the field of special education there have probably been more changes in the past decade than in any other area of education. In 2006, Hong Kong is undoubtedly at the cusp of major changes which continue to reflect the paradigm shifts occurring internationally. One area of concern for all is the issue of support for learners with special needs. It is clear that as more learners with disabilities are included in regular classes support services are moving relatively quickly from a withdrawal one-on-one intervention model that is no longer viable, to increasingly providing support in class by co-teaching, or even redesigning support so that it is aimed at the teacher rather than the child. Additionally, support services are becoming more sophisticated as parents demand greater attention to the specific needs of their child and as they expect educational systems to provide the most up to date practices. For every child with a special need there are many stakeholders who seek to provide some form of support. This can become quite overwhelming, staccato in its implementation, and demanding in the extreme, thus resulting in a disjointed unworkable approach. This paper will consider how support can be redesigned to provide a more collaborative, collegial and cohesive approach that is manageable within the current transformations that are occurring in Hong Kong.     

Educating science teachers for the sociocultural diversity of urban schools

This interpretive study of the preparation of science teachers for urban high schools explored the extent to which learning to teach was facilitated by the methods courses, cooperating teachers and university supervisors. Because the methods course was minimally effective in addressing the needs of teaching low track students from conditions of poverty the methods instructor, Tobin, decided to be a teacher-researcher with such students. He joined Smith, a student teacher and Seiler, a doctoral student, in an investigation that examined learning to teach in a graduate teacher preparation program. In an endeavour to gain a first hand grasp on the challenges of teaching African American students placed in a low track program of study the three authors of this paper co-taught science in an urban high school. The paper incorporates rich perspectives gained from the teacher-researchers and theoretical frameworks associated with resistance, habitus and learning to teach by co-teaching. The paper advocates co-teaching as an essential component of teacher education programs.     

Teacher Readiness to Work With English Language Learners: Arizona Context

Arizona is one of six states leading the nation in English language learner (ELL) student enrollments and requiring all teachers to complete coursework in methods of teaching ELLs. This policy requirement has impacted teacher preparation programs and the field of teacher education as a whole. As such, there is a growing need to identify and evaluate factors that contribute to ELL teacher readiness. This exploratory survey study examines teacher readiness to work with ELLs in comprehensive public high schools in Arizona. This study was conducted using a survey instrument administered to in-service teachers (n?=?444). Correlation analyses indicate that there is a strong association between preservice preparation, preservice exposure to ELLs, and the feeling of readiness to serve ELLs. The findings make a strong case for further examination of preservice teacher preparation programs, in-service professional development, and their relationship to teacher readiness.     

University–School Partnerships in English Pre-service Teacher Education: A Dialogic Inquiry into a Co-teaching Initiative

Evidence has been accumulating for some time about the impact of standards-based education reforms on schools and schooling, but there has been little research investigating the influence of these reforms on university-based initial teacher education (ITE). This article critically inquiries into the effects of these reforms on an ITE co-teaching project where a secondary English teacher in a school was seconded to work for a year as a teacher educator in an Australian university in a praxis-based partnership. Using Cavarero’s framing of ‘who’ and ‘what’ narratives, and Bakhtinian discourse theory, the authors present three autobiographical narratives exploring different perspectives on their experiences in the co-teaching partnership. The article affirms the value of school–university praxis partnerships for speaking back to standards-based reforms, but acknowledges that this speaking back involves complex relational and dialogic work in grappling with institutional and system-wide policies and practices.     

Classroom-level curriculum development: EFL teachers as curriculum-developers,curriculum-makers and curriculum-transmitters

This qualitative study aimed to explore teacher curriculum approaches and the strategies attached to each approach because they influence the taught curriculum, teacher development and student learning. The study was therefore grounded in teacher curriculum development, curriculum implementation, teacher development, student cognitive and affective change and constructivism. To address this study's qualitative and exploratory purposes, it made use of the qualitative paradigm at the levels of ontology (multiple curriculum realities), epistemology (interaction with rather than detachment from respondents) and methodology (using idiographic methodology and instruments). In line with the qualitative paradigm, it used qualitative case-study (method), general interviews, pre/post-lesson interviews, group interviews and participant observation (data collection methods) in addition to grounded theory (data analysis approach) to meet the research purposes. Working with English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and mixed-nationality college students, the study reached a teacher curriculum approach classification comprising curriculum-transmission, curriculum-development and curriculum-making. It recommended alternatives for teacher, student and curriculum development, curriculum implementation and teacher training.     

Co-teachers’ attitudes towards planning and instructional activities for students with disabilities

Co-teaching is considered a means for improving the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. This research employs a mixed methods research approach to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards co-teaching practices for students with disabilities in Greek schools. In total, 400 co-teachers completed a survey questionnaire and 10 of them participated in semi-structured interviews, in which they reported co-teaching practices with regard to planning and evaluation activities, co-teaching models, content of teaching and instructional grouping arrangements. The participants stated that the time they spend to plan and evaluate together is insufficient and that they need more time to perform these activities. In addition, co-teachers were found to use their limited time to separate rather than to co-plan or evaluate co-teaching activities. They reported inconsistencies in the rating of co-teaching activities during planning and evaluation. Even though co-teachers approved a specific stance towards all models of co-teaching, they mainly noted that they implemented supportive co-teaching. Also, they stated that they modify the content of teaching for their students with disabilities, but they limit this practice to individual teaching in order to assist these students to overcome specific difficulties. Finally, co-teachers indicated that they prefer to teach the students with disabilities in mixed ability groups rather than to teach them individually out of the class. The results of this research support those of previous studies with regard to the planning needs of co-teachers and the prevalence of the supportive co-teaching model. In addition, our results inform the field about diverse approaches and inconsistencies in delivering the curriculum and the grouping arrangements for students with disabilities. We argue that professional development on the practical implementation of co-teaching and administrative support are necessary to enhance co-teachers’ activities towards the development of an inclusive culture.     

Cross-cultural communities of practice for college readiness

College readiness is a social construct requiring both student and adult preparedness. This paper used a case study methodology to explore how teaching in an early college program might promote adult college readiness in the instructors. A community of practice, enhanced by a co-teaching model, in two separate high school settings under one early college program, was the unit of analysis. The communities of practice provided a safe place for risk-taking, experimentation and innovation. Semi-structured interviews revealed growth in cross-cultural understanding, content knowledge and contextual skills and knowledge as well as general teaching skills, all of which would contribute to student success in the secondary/postsecondary transition. Self-discovery and self-expression flourished, but concrete changes in identity were minimal and institutional learning was marginal.     

The number of feedbacks needed for reliable evaluation. A multilevel analysis of the reliability,stability and generalisability of students’ evaluation of teaching

A multilevel analysis approach was used to analyse students’ evaluation of teaching (SET). The low value of inter-rater reliability stresses that any solid conclusions on teaching cannot be made on the basis of single feedbacks. To assess a teacher’s general teaching effectiveness, one needs to evaluate four randomly chosen course implementations. Two implementations are needed when one course is evaluated, and if one implementation is evaluated, up to 15 feedbacks are needed. The stability of students’ ratings is very high, which reflects students’ stable rating criteria. There is an obvious rating paradox: from the student’s point of view, each rating is very precise, stable and justifiable, but from the teacher’s point of view a single feedback reflects the quality of teaching to just a moderate extent. Cross-hierarchical analysis reveals that there are large discrepancies between the uses of rating scales; some students are systematically more lenient in their rating whereas others are systematically more severe. The study also reveals that some courses are generally rated more favourably and that some courses are more suitable for certain teachers. Managers can thus improve the quality of teaching by finding the most suitable courses for each teacher.