Co-Teaching Beliefs to Support Inclusive Education: Survey of Relationships between General and Special Educators in Inclusive Classes

Co-teaching is a prevalent approach to providing effective instruction in inclusive classes. The purpose of this study was to determine teachers’ perceptions of compatibility and discrepancy between their approaches to teaching, personal characteristics and efficacy of co-teaching. Noonan’s Co-teacher Relationship Scale was adapted to survey the co-teachers statewide. Results of the statewide survey of Arizona general and special educators teaching in inclusive classes are presented as they relate to their responses. Various aspects of co-teaching relationships and teacher implementation of co-teaching models are discussed. The authors derive attributes of co-teachers in Arizona that indicate compatibility and sustainability of co-teaching arrangements. Implications for research and practice are discussed. 1 Malian and McRae: Co-Teaching Beliefs to Support Inclusive Education: Survey of Rel Published by CORE Scholar, 2010 As special education advances into the 21 century, educators are confronted with the neverending challenge of providing for the individual needs of their students. Special and regular education teachers alike are questioning current practices and beliefs regarding effective methods of instruction. Because of recent initiatives and educational reforms, diversity in the general education classroom is steadily increasing. As the trend towards inclusive schooling practices escalates, the need for schoolwide collaboration is imperative. Meeting the diverse needs of students requires methods of service delivery that incorporates collaboration between special and regular education teachers. In recent years, collaborative teaching has become a means for providing students a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004) Co-teaching has been described and defined in a variety of ways, but the overall similarities are remarkable. The most commonly accepted definitions of co-teaching proposed in the literature share key elements. According to Cramer et al. (2006), co-teaching takes place in a classroom that is “. taught by both general education and special education teachers and is a supplementary aid and service that can be brought to general education to serve the needs of students with (and without) disabilities through IDEIA” (p. 3). Sileo (2003) defines co-teaching as an instructional delivery approach in which general and special educators share responsibility for planning, delivery, and evaluation of instructional techniques for a group of students. Cook and Friend (1996) defined co-teaching as one general educator and one special educator who share physical space, actively instruct a blended group of students, including those with disabilities. Gately and Gately (2001) defined co-teaching as a collaboration between general and special education teachers who are responsible for educating all students assigned to a classroom. Thousand, Villa, and Nevin (2004) defined a co-teaching team as a general and a special educator who teach the general education curriculum to all students and who implement Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students with disabilities (p. #). Both educators on the co-teaching team are 2 Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, Vol. 2, No. 6 [2010], Art. 2 https://corescholar.libraries. wright.edu/ejie/vol2/iss6/2 responsible for instructional planning and delivery, assessment of student achievement, and classroom management. Most recently Nevin, Villa and Thousand (2009) differentiated four approaches to co-teaching that may also be utilized in inclusive classes. These approaches include supportive co-teaching; parallel co-teaching; complimentary co-teaching and team teaching. Supportive co-teaching exists when one teacher assumes the leadership role for instruction and the other teacher “rotates” to provide support for the students in the class. In parallel co-teaching relationships teachers are actively engaged with groups of students at various locations within the classroom. Within these groups teachers direct their efforts to approach the teaching and learning process from various strategies. For example, one group could have a learning style focus-where instruction one teacher may underscore an auditory instructional style while another teacher employs and auditory approach. Complementary co-teaching allows for the one teacher to provide direct instruction and another to supplement the information with visual representations on the board or verbally add to the lecture in the form of paraphrase. Team teaching can be characterized as the “traditional” approach to teaching where the tam of teachers (two or more) typically plan and teach the designed content to the class. Many researchers and practitioners have studied the effectiveness of co-teaching. From the perspective of administrative support, Walther-Thomas (1995) found that school administrators facilitate teachers in addressing issues, provide staff development, utilize resources, manage classroom size, and balance class rosters. As instructional leaders, effective principals provide the vision, incentive, recognition, and moral support to teachers during challenging stages in the implementation process (Walther-Thomas, Bryant & Land 1996). These authors also studied effective co-teaching from the relationship perspective. They found that five planning themes surfaced among effective co-teachers: trusting the professional skills of co-teacher partners, structuring active learning experiences, valuing each co-teacher’s contributions, sharing roles and efficient routines, experiencing more productive use 3 Malian and McRae: Co-Teaching Beliefs to Support Inclusive Education: Survey of Rel Published by CORE Scholar, 2010 of planning time as co-teachers gain experience. Gately and Gately (2001) developed a co-teacher rating scale to assess and monitor relationships between the teachers which included items related to positive interpersonal communication, familiarity with the curriculum, curriculum goals and modifications, instructional planning, instructional presentation, classroom management, assessment. By periodically completing and discussing the items on the scale, the co-teachers can identify essential issues that may otherwise go unaddressed. The extent to which co-teaching improves student academic progress has been a subject of many studies as well. For example, Walther-Thomas (1995) studied 23 schools, within eight districts, over three years with the following key effects: better attitudes about themselves and others on the part of students with disabilities who also improved in their academic abilities, remained in the general education population, had a greater desire to learn, became less critical, and began to see their own academic and social strengths. Gray (2009) found that students with disabilities in co-teaching classes improved homework completion from 43% to 100% weekly. General education students benefit by receiving individual help and modifications through the collaboration between both teachers. Pugach and Johnson (1995) found an increased tolerance from general education students towards children with cognitive deficits. Gerber and Papp (1999) interviewed students with and without disabilities, and their parents, regarding their perceptions of impact in a co-taught classroom. Students and parents alike reported positive results. Schwab Learning (2003) studied co-teaching in16 California elementary, middle and high schools, finding decreased referrals to intensive special education services, increased overall student achievement, fewer disruptive problems, less paperwork, increased number of students qualifying for gifted and talented education services, and decreased referrals for behavioral problems. Keefe and Moore (2004) found that co-teaching yielded a positive effect on students with and without disabilities. 4 Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, Vol. 2, No. 6 [2010], Art. 2 https://corescholar.libraries. wright.edu/ejie/vol2/iss6/2 Although it is generally agreed that co-teaching is beneficial to students with and without disabilities, there are several barriers that accompany the co-teaching approach. It must be emphasized that these barriers are not excuses to abandon co-teaching. Rather, exposure to these obstacles can be insightful and can provide an opportunity to plan for success. Barriers in co-teaching range from lack of time to shared space, adding more content to an already full curriculum, and lack of adequate training. Both general and special education teachers agree that overcoming the barriers is challenging, worthwhile, and imperative. Barriers seem to be differentiated according to elementary, middle school, and secondary levels. At the elementary level, concerns about sufficient planning time, administrative support, resources, professional development, and teacher willingness parallel across the board among teachers in all grade levels surfaced in a focus group study of general and special education co-teachers in elementary and high schools verifies these commonalities (Keefe and Moore, 2001). Additionally, coteaching compatibility is the attribute of greatest consequence for success, regardless of the grade levels. At the elementary level, co-teaching is widely accepted among general and special educators, with an overall agreement that co-taught classrooms are beneficial for all students. Although scheduling becomes difficult, it is the most essential aspect of co-teaching at the elementary grades to meet the needs of all students (Gately & Gately, 2001). Students in the elementary grades are commonly taught by one teacher, but may visit other teachers for specialized classes. At the middle school level, in a meta-analysis by Murawski and Swanson (2001), an overall moderate effect for student progress favored co-teaching which does not substantiate a str