Noted are frequent accounts in the literature of coteaching activities but less evidence of their effectiveness regarding student outcomes. Jul 1997 4p. This Digest explores facets of collaboration between general and special education teachers that are different from earlier models. Inclusion of students with disabilities into the same class has brought about teams of general education and special education teachers working collaboratively or cooperatively to combine their professional knowledge, perspectives, and skills. Regular and special education teachers share goals, decisions, classroom instruction, responsibility for students, assessment of student learning, problem solving, and classroom management in the same classroom.
Successful collaboration involves time, support, resources, monitoring, and persistence.
Planning for effective cooperation should take place at the district, building, and classroom levels. Examines the evolution of a cooperative teaching effort between a general and a special education teacher who team taught kindergarten students with disabilities in a general education classroom. The practitioners designed, implemented, and evaluated solutions to classroom and building-level issues affecting the inclusion of students with moderate to profound disabilities. Two case studies are shared to illustrate the process.