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CO-TEACHING PARTNERSHIPS: HOW CULTURE OF SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS AFFECT PRACTICES IN CO-PLANNING AND CO-IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTION By: Cecilia Gray Batalo, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Director: Paul J. Gerber, Ph.D., Professor Department of Special Education and Disability Policy School of Education The purpose of this study was to describe how the school and classroom cultures affected practices of inclusion for students with disabilities and how the inclusionary practice of co-teaching was influenced by the school culture. This study sought to investigate school and classroom cultures and their impact on practices of inclusion. It also addressed the perceptions of the impact that the school and classroom cultures had on co-teaching and why some practices are effective or not effective for co-planning or co-implementation. A multicase study design was used to gather and explore observations and interviews. Data were analyzed through qualitative methods with a focus on norms, values, and routines. This study provided an understanding of how school and classroom cultures affected inclusion within one school district in Virginia in order to inform elements needed for successful inclusion of students with disabilities through use of the co-teaching model.

<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>

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Den svenska grundskolan har genomgått stora förändringar de senaste decennierna. Utvecklingen av läraryrket har gått från att innebära mycket ensamarbete mot att mer och mer innefatta möjlighet till samarbete med kollegor. Den som arbetar som lärare i den svenska skolan nu på 2020-talet har inte bara möjligheten att samarbeta med kollegor, utan förväntas också göra det. Det används många olika uttryck för att beskriva vad detta samarbete ska innehålla. Lärande samtal, lärande gemenskap och pedagogiskt samarbete är några exempel. Denna studie fokuserar på kollegialt lärande, vilket är ytterligare ett begrepp som används. Studien syftar till att utveckla en skolas kollegiala lärande och följa dess utveckling. Detta i ett projekt där personalen fått vara med och forma både mål, innehåll och upplägg. Studien är utformad för att ta reda på vad lärare reflekterar över i lärande samtal inom ramen för ett gemensamt utvecklingsarbete. Den organisation som skapats för projektet bygger på en struktur för den gemensamma arbetslagstiden och består av en serie aktionsrundor med vardera fyra steg. Stegen innehåller samplanering, genomförande av undervisning, videoobservationer med tillhörande lärande samtal, samt avslutande reflektionssamtal i grupp. Reflektionssamtalen filmades och bildar underlag för studiens analys. I analysen framkommer några teman för vad lärare samtalar om i kollegialt lärande som det skapats en tydlig struktur och organisation för. I resultatet blir det synligt vilken enorm betydelse kommunikation har för lärande. Det framkommer också exempel på vad brist på kommunikation kan leda till. Det blir synligt att lärare till viss del förlitar sig till ett samarbete utan kommunikation, så kallad tyst kommunikation. Resultatet visar också betydelsen av hur det kollegiala lärandet har organiserats i form av tid och strukturer för samtal. Kommunikation i allmänhet är inte tillräckligt för att skapa en lärande kultur på en skola. Det är betydelsefullt med ett klimat som gynnar reflektion, och då även kritisk reflektion. Det tar tid att förändra en skolas inre kultur och skapa nya gemensamma normer och värderingar kring både lärarnas och elevernas lärande vilket ger implikationer till skolledare att låta utvecklingsprocesser med kollegialt lärande få ta tid. Det kan också krävas en påtvingad struktur som hjälper arbetslag att komma igång och hålla fokus på utvecklingsområdet. Samtidigt väcker studien funderingar på vilken inverkan en struktur med givna frågeställningar har på ett lärande samtal. / The Swedish compulsory school has undergone major changes in recent decades. The development of the teaching profession has gone from involving a lot of solo work to an increased opportunity for collaboration with colleagues. Those who work as teachers in the Swedish school now in the 2020s not only have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, but also expected to do so. Many different expressions are used to describe what this collaboration should contain. Learning conversations, learning community and pedagogical collaboration are some examples. This study focuses on collegial learning, which is another concept used. The study aims to develop a school's collegial learning and follow its development. This is accomplished in a project where the teachers have been involved in constructing both goals, content and structure. The study is designed to find out what teachers reflect upon in learning conversations within a joint development work. The organization created for the project is based on a structure for the collective time of the team and consists of a series of action rounds with four steps each. The steps include co-planning, implementation of teaching, video observations with associated learning conversations, and concluding reflection conversations in groups. The reflection conversations were filmed to form the basis of the study's analysis. The analysis reveals some topics for what teachers talk about in collegial learning for which a distinct structure and organization has been created. The result shows the enormous importance of communication for learning. There are also examples what lack of communication can lead to. It becomes apparent that teachers to some extent rely on collaboration without communication, so-called silent communication. The results also show the importance of organization of collegial learning in terms of time and conversational structures. Communication in general is not enough to create a learning culture among teachers in school. It is important to have a climate that favors reflection, also including critical reflection. It takes time to change the internal culture of a school and create new collective norms and values regarding learning for both teachers and students. This implies that school leaders should allow development processes with collegial learning to take time. An enforced structure may also be required to help teams get started and stay focused in the development area. At the same time, the study raises questions about the impact a structure with given issues can have on learning conversation.

Limited co-planning between special education and general education co-teaching partners has been documented in professional literature as a significant problem. Special education teachers do not adequately co-plan for the implementation of accommodations for students with disabilities educated in the general education classroom. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the perceptions of special education teachers in one suburban elementary school district in the United States regarding co-planning with regular education teachers. The theory of self-efficacy was utilized as the conceptual framework to understand how teachers' beliefs and experiences influenced planning and goal setting for special education students. Research questions were designed to capture the perceptions of elementary school special education teachers by documenting their roles, beliefs, and self-efficacy for co-planning. In this qualitative case study, 8 elementary school special education teachers currently holding co-teaching assignments in a public school district were interviewed. Interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. School documents were also analyzed as a method of triangulation. Results were reflective of the theoretical framework in that special education teachers' believed that their co-planning experience influenced their general teaching efficacy, but not their personal teaching efficacy. They felt more prepared to teach general education students, but maintained their personal expertise in teaching special education students. The implications for social change include enhanced morale for teaching in inclusive classrooms for special education teachers, enhanced social interaction between co-teachers and students, and enhanced learning for all students including those with disabilities that might result in opportunities for educational and career advancement.