Co-Teaching: an Executive Summary

Co-Teaching: An Executive Summary

College of Saint Joseph GSP503
January 16, 2012

Co-teaching is a strategy that ensures students with disabilities have access to the same curriculum as regular education students while still receiving specialized instruction. An idea that began forming in the educational arena in the 1980’s, co-teaching began to gain in popularity and attention after the United States Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 (Friend, Cook, Hurley-Chamberlain, and Shamberger (2010). In a classroom where co-teaching is practiced, a general education teacher works in tandem with a special education teacher to instruct students of diverse ability levels, including students with learning disabilities in a way that benefits all the students, regular education students and students with disabilities alike ( Friend & al., 2010). Co-teaching has its roots in team-teaching, a movement that came about the 1960’s. Team teaching involved, for example, one teacher who was thought to be the most knowledgeable on a particular subject being chosen to give a lecture to a large group of students. This large group would then be broken down into several smaller discussion groups, each led by a different teacher (Shaplin, 1964). Co-teaching is distinctly different, more dynamic, and more effective at promoting intellectual growth in students. Co-teaching doubles the student/teacher ration which maximizes the learning of all students as long as both teachers are functioning in their full capacity as teachers and neither individual in a subordinate capacity (Friend et al., 2010). Additionally, co-teaching involves one teacher focusing on competencies students are to gain from the curriculum, the pace of teaching, and classroom management. The special educator, on the other hand, adds a different dimension with expertise related to process of learning and in-depth knowledge of the individualized nature of some students’ needs (Friend et al., 2010). Some studies show positive indicators for students of co-taught classrooms such as performing better on report card grades and better attendance records than in single teacher classes. Also, in some studies, high school students perceived receiving more help in co-taught classroom in addition to having the benefit of multiple teaching styles and instructional approaches (Wilson and Michaels, 2006). In order for co-teaching to continue to be a positively influential movement in education and continue to breakdown traditional boundaries between students with learning disabilities and their regular education classmates, teacher training will need to be more widespread in this domain both for regular classroom teachers and for teacher of children with disabilities (Duke, 2004; Hudson and Glomb, 1997). Also, school administrators need to increase their familiarity and comfort level with the concept of co-teaching so they can facilitate their staff’s transition from the traditional one-teacher per classroom model (Reynolds, Murrill, and Whitt, 2006). Lastly, there is not yet adequate research on whether or not co-teaching has a significant positive impact on achievement for students with learning disabilities (Mowbray, Holter, Teague, and Bybee, 2003). As yet, student performance on standardized tests does not show any improvements as a result of co-teaching (Idol, 2006). Educational researchers need to initiate research studies on co-teaching across grade levels, subjects and student learning characteristics (Friend et al. 2010).

REFERENCES

Duke, T. (2004). Problematizing collaboration: A critical review of the empirical literature on teaching teams. Teacher Education and Special Education, 27, 307-317.
Friend, M., Cook, L., Hurley-Chamberlain, D., & Shamberger, C. (2010). Co-teaching: An illustration of the Complexity of Collaboration in Special Education. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 20:9-27
Hudson, P., & Glomb, N. (1997). If it takes two to tango, the why not teach both partners to dance? Collaboration instruction for all educators. Journal of learning Disabilities, 30, 442-448.
Idol, L (2006). Toward inclusion of special education students in general education: A program evaluation of eight schools. Remedial and Special Education, 27(2), 77-94.
Mowbray, C., Holter, M., Teague, G., & Bybee, D. (2003). Fidelity criteria: Development, measurement, and validation. American Journal of Evaluation, 24, 316-341.
Reynolds, T., Murrill, L. D., & Whitt, G.L. (2006). Learning from organizations: mobilizing and sustaining teacher change. The Educational Forum, 70, 123-133.

References: Duke, T. (2004). Problematizing collaboration: A critical review of the empirical literature on teaching teams Friend, M., Cook, L., Hurley-Chamberlain, D., & Shamberger, C. (2010). Co-teaching: An illustration of the Complexity of Collaboration in Special Education Hudson, P., & Glomb, N. (1997). If it takes two to tango, the why not teach both partners to dance? Collaboration instruction for all educators Idol, L (2006). Toward inclusion of special education students in general education: A program evaluation of eight schools Mowbray, C., Holter, M., Teague, G., & Bybee, D. (2003). Fidelity criteria: Development, measurement, and validation Reynolds, T., Murrill, L. D., & Whitt, G.L. (2006). Learning from organizations: mobilizing and sustaining teacher change