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Urban School Principal Rated as Highly Effective: Support and Culture for Co-teaching

The recent revisions to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) and the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) promoted a movement toward meaningful inclusion, which has led to an increase in interest in co-teaching (Friend, Cook, Hurley-Chamberlain, & Shamberger, 2010; Nichols, Dowdy, & Nichols, 2010). When co-teaching is effectively executed both students with and without disabilities benefit academically and socially (Friend & Cook, 2007). Researchers indicate that a key factor in effective co-teaching is administrative support (Friend et al.; Dieker & Murawski, 2003; Murawski & Dieker, 2008; Murawski & Dieker, 2004; Scruggs et al., 2007). The purpose of this study was to identify the policies and practices used by effective principals who have led the implementation of co-teaching in their schools. The researcher interviewed three middle school principals in a large urban school district to ascertain the essence of their experiences. The principals were identified as highly effective by their most recent principal evaluation system. The interview data were examined using Hycner's guidelines for phenomenological analysis. Triangulation occurred through a survey and review of documents. The co-teaching teams from the participating principals' schools completed a Likert-type survey. The researcher reviewed the schools' master schedules, School Improvement Plan, and Action Plan. Analysis of the participating principals' interview data has identified themes. These themes included: (a) preparing the setting, (b) preparing co-teaching teams, (c) necessary co-teacher skill sets, (d) utilizing the leadership team, (e) purposeful selection of co-teaching staff, (f) addressing barriers, (g) culture supporting knowledgeable co-teachers, (h) traits of effective co-teachers, (i) expectations of co-teachers, (j) motivating co-teachers, and (k) attaining buy-in through support and culture.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-2436
Date01 January 2015
CreatorsSan, Michelle
PublisherSTARS
Source SetsUniversity of Central Florida
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceElectronic Theses and Dissertations

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