The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the perceptions of co-teachers concerning their professional development needs for co-teaching and to determine the level of training they received to prepare them for co-teaching. Sixty-one co-teachers (general education teachers: n=36, 59%; special education teachers: n=25, 41%) in the state of Kentucky completed the Professional Development for Co-teaching Survey for Teachers (PDCST). Survey data demonstrated mean ratings for 14 content-related items ranging from 5.57 to 7.31 indicating teachers generally perceived all were important to their professional development. The items identified as the most critical content were: co-teaching strategies that allow both co-teachers to play active instructional roles, strategies for sharing roles and responsibilities among co-teachers, strategies for building and sustaining co-teaching partnerships, and co-teaching formats. Teachers also identified content area training and planning for co-teaching in open ended queries. Second, co-teachers prioritized content, formats, and follow-up activities for professional development. Top content priorities included strategies for building and sustaining co-teaching partnerships, co-teaching formats, and strategies for sharing roles and responsibilities. Participants identified single day workshops, multiple day workshops, and professional learning communities as their top professional development formats. Top follow-up activities were observing experienced co-teachers, additional professional development, and mentoring from an experienced co-teacher or co-teaching team. Co-teachers validated suggestions on professional development for co-teaching. The items with the highest validation included: train co-teachers prior to co-teaching, train co-teachers with their co-teaching partners, and provide three to five days of preparation for co-teachers. Additionally, the following suggestions were made: include planning time during and after training, provide opportunities for practice and feedback during and after training, and provide opportunities for teachers to observe model co-teaching teams. Lastly, nearly half the co-teachers (n=28, 46.7%) reported receiving no professional development for co-teaching. Sixteen teachers (26.2%) reported between one to six hours of training, while seven (11.5%) reported having between seven to 12 hours. The results may be used to guide professional developers and teacher educators in preparing future and current co-teachers. Additionally, recommendations for training, policy, and future research are provided.

<p>Co-teaching is a practice in which “two professionals co-plan, co-instruct and co-assess a diverse group of students. Both teachers provide substantive instruction to all students on a daily, consistent basis. Neither is considered the main teacher of the class; they are equals” (Murawski, 2008, p. 29). Unfortunately, co-teaching in practice is often characterized by one teacher handling most of the instruction and the other operating in an assistant role (Murawski & Lochner, 2009, 2010; Volonio & Zigmund, 2007). Co-teaching should also be characterized by the use of multiple models that facilitate small group instruction, which should increase student to teacher interaction and student engagement (Friend, 2014). </p><p>A way to address these gaps is to provide co-teachers with ongoing coaching support (CEC, 2012). The goal of this study was to increase the quality of co-teaching through different levels of coaching to facilitate small group instruction through parallel teaching and increase student engagement. This study used a MTSS model with a multi-probe design to respond to the level of support co-teachers need, starting with peer coaching, then traditional coaching, and finally bug in ear (BIE) coaching. </p><p>There were three sets of co-teaching pairs who participated. There was an intervention effect for all three pairs of teachers with peer coaching, the first tier of the intervention. Therefore, the other two levels of support were not needed as all participants met criteria in peer coaching. Additionally, there was an effect in increasing student engagement with peer coaching. These procedures can be used and adapted for future research in coaching co-teachers to improve their practices. </p>

Worldwide, an influx of immigration, has increased the heterogeneity of our classrooms. In light of today’s heightened teacher accountability, standards and high-stakes assessment, traditional ways of teaching need to change in order to effectively serve the needs of our culturally and linguistically diverse students. Therefore, a qualitative-interpretive study was conducted with ten science teachers working in six private, international schools based in Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium with a focus on teacher perceptions, beliefs, teaching practices, and instructional resources used to teach science to English Language Learners (ELLs). Emphasis was placed on the specific teaching modalities and resources that science teachers use to support ELLs in their classrooms. It also addressed the needs of teachers to effectively teach science to ELLs. In response to the research questions, the thematic analysis revealed that the teachers working in these schools had a good awareness of ELL needs in science and wanted to make a difference for these learners. They perceived ELLs as quiet, but hardworking and motivated students. To some degree, the teachers used all seven modalities of teaching: reading, writing, speaking, listening, doing, interpreting, and representing, with or without the use of technology, and considered multimodality to be the most effective way to make science accessible to ELLs. Though not exhaustive, this research offers a set of pedagogical tools and resources for pre-service and in-service teachers to meet the needs of their ELLs in science. Furthermore, based on the teacher responses, the research identifies five key areas which are necessary for science literacy development of culturally and linguistically diverse students. These include: (i) teachers’ positive mindset and awareness towards ELLs in science; (ii) school leadership and administrative support for ELLs; (iii) time, multimodality, and specialized professional development (PD) to scaffold science for ELLs; (iv) the provision of realistic opportunities to collaborate with the ELL or English Language Development (ELD) teacher; and (v) co-teaching science with an ELL/ELD teacher. I would hereby like to share the findings of this thesis and make these accessible to fellow science teachers in the hope that they will refer and/or utilize the proposed strategies and resources in their daily practice.

The co-teaching relationship is the foundational structure upon which a co-taught classroom is built. Co-teaching is often defined as a general education teacher and a special education teacher teaching a group of heterogeneous students together. Born from inclusion, co-teaching attempts to reach all learners. With this service delivery model comes challenges and a large learning curve, so a strong foundation is imperative. Literature and educational scholars have expressed that the foundation of co-teaching is the relationship between teachers. Authors in the literature have stressed the importance of the relationship however, little to no research exists studying the dynamics of the co-teaching partnership. Through a phenomenological approach, this study sought to understand the dynamics of the co-teaching partnership between a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Framed with collaborative professionalism and a thorough examination of the working partnership, this study was able to dive deep into the phenomenon of co-teaching, as was experienced by each teacher. By uncovering the authentic experiences of co-teachers, the understanding of the co-teaching partnership increase, and educators and administrators were provided a different frame of understanding for future co-teaching implementation. By studying the co-teaching partnership and the phenomenon of the partnership, an authentic understanding was uncovered. Understanding the authentic experiences of co-teachers allows educators and administrators to better prepare and support the co-teaching practice.

This descriptive multi-case study systematically explored the team teaching relationship between a secondary teacher and a university faculty member. Multiple interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of available data provided insights into the interactions of these particular collegial-teams, drawn together for the purpose of providing rigorous STEM curriculum to high-ability students during a three-week residential program. Data revealed that successful collaboration can be described by the emergent themes of reciprocity, respect, flexibility, and time. It appears that an active interchange, or reciprocity, and mutual respect between partners during curriculum/lesson/unit planning, instructional delivery, and assessment facilitate effective collaborative instruction. Findings further revealed that instructors expressed an overall positive experience with collegial-teaming; one that has been valuable to them as professionals. The university instructors reported acquiring and improving upon their own pedagogical skills, while the high-school instructors reported gains in terms of obtaining in-depth content knowledge. The partnership also assisted in bridging insights between the secondary and college arenas in terms of content and academic expectations at both levels. The overall experience provided professional growth and development that would not have occurred without the unique pairing of a high-school instructor and a university faculty member.

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<p>A majority of special education students—64%—spend 80% or more of their time in regular education classes. The primary method of delivering special education services is by creating co-taught classes. Despite its popularity, literature suggests that most co-teaching relationships never meet their full potential due to a number of factors. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of co-teaching in one high school. This included an exploration into teachers’ employed strategies, their perceptions, and the challenges related to their co-taught classes. Twenty-nine teachers from an urban, public high school, in a city in the Midwest participated in the one-time anonymous survey. Results from this study suggest that most teachers rely on “One Teach, One Drift” (also known as “One Teach, One Assist” and “One Teach, One Support”) as their primary mode of implementing co-teaching in their classes. Additionally, the results from this study suggest that most teachers believe that co-teaching is an effective way to provide special education services to students with special education needs. However, 59% of teachers reported that they have not received expectations of their role and their collaborators role (65%) in co-taught classes. Participants cited lack of common planning time as the most prominent challenge that hinders successful co-teaching (70%), and lack of content knowledge (56%). Additionally, perspectives and attitudes of collaborators and lack of access to adequate resources/training presented a challenge. </p>

According to the U.S Department of Education, co-teaching is an intervention used to give students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum while in the general education classroom. It's necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of co-teaching as it relates to academic performance. However, there has been a dearth of research on quantitative studies related to co-teaching and their results have been inconclusive. This quantitative study explored whether co-teaching has a positive effect on academic performance compared to collaborative teaching, and adds to the literature in this area that is considered current. On an annual basis from 2002 to 2011, junior and senior students from each school district in Georgia were given the GHSGT. Descriptive statistics were performed on the demographics of the respondents, including gender and ethnicity. The Mann-Whitney U Test was performed to evaluate if there were significant GHSGT mean scores differences between the co-teaching and collaborative class settings. Results indicated that students with disabilities performed better in the collaborative setting in math, English, and writing; and students in the co-teaching setting did not perform better than students in the non co-teaching setting in all subject areas. These results support that co-teaching is not meeting the needs of all students with disabilities (SWD) in this school district. Butts County education professionals may want to use this research to help guide them in designing a special education program that focuses on the needs of the SWD and how to meet those needs. This study contributes to positive social change because it supports previous research that concludes the needs of all SWD are not being met. More research still needs to be conducted to determine how to meet the needs of these students.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att få inblick i vilka möjligheter och utmaningar lärare upplever vid arbete i ett tvålärarsystem. Ansatsen är kvalitativ med utgångspunkt ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Resultatet avslöjar att metoden är gynnsam för lärare när det gäller planering, nyttjande av kompetens och minskad arbetsbelastning.

This study was focused on the effect of pre-service teaching utilizing a co-teaching model on student achievement at an elementary school in a large, urban school district in central Florida. The contribution of university student teachers (i.e., interns) to elementary school achievement was investigated. Specifically explored was the difference between student achievement scores in classes with interns who participated in a co-teaching model and interns in classes that did not employ any structured approach to intern teaching. The researcher compared seven classes that employed co-teaching, where the university intern teacher and master teacher remained in the class conducting instruction, to seven classes that had a more traditional approach to the intern teaching. The co-teaching intern model did not exert a significant effect, either positive or negative, on student achievement. Also investigated was the effect of an intern, utilizing any model, on student achievement scores, when compared to similar classes without the presence of an intern. The study utilized 14 classes with interns and 13 classes without interns; each group had populations of approximately 285 students. The presence of an intern did not exert a significant effect, either positive or negative, on student achievement. However, the data indicated that the presence of an intern could positively influence mathematics scores. Additionally, the impact of teacher quality and socio-economic status on student achievement in reading and mathematics were explored. The data revealed the value of the individual teacher significantly affected student success in reading and mathematics. In reading, socio-economic status also significantly affected student achievement.