Location
Room 1005
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Round Table
Abstract
Co-teaching is an instructional approach usually initiated by school administrators to help general and special education teachers who share a single classroom to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Although research regarding co-teaching is still in need of further development in some areas such as student achievement, co-teaching has increasingly grown in popularity as an option for addressing the multiple needs of diverse learners, including students with disabilities. Some school professionals and researchers who are proponents of this instructional delivery model believe that, "At the core of co-teaching is determining what instructional techniques will be most efficient and effective in helping all students meet academic standards (Murawski and Dieker, 2004). This study explored the knowledge and skills of special educators related to classroom practices for effective co-teaching. Participants (N=43) were certified special educators from different states around the country. Findings suggest positive relationships between instructional communication and several other variables and may potentially help teacher education candidates develop better skills for delivering general education curriculum along with specially designed services to students with disabilities in co-taught classrooms.
Keywords
Collaboration, Co-teaching, General education, Special education, Teacher education
Recommended Citation
Shamberger, Cynthia T. and Henriques, Kendra W., "Special Educators Describe the Critical Mass of Co-Teaching" (2014). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 20.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2014/2014/20
Proposal
Included in
Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Special Education and Teaching Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons
Special Educators Describe the Critical Mass of Co-Teaching
Room 1005
Co-teaching is an instructional approach usually initiated by school administrators to help general and special education teachers who share a single classroom to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Although research regarding co-teaching is still in need of further development in some areas such as student achievement, co-teaching has increasingly grown in popularity as an option for addressing the multiple needs of diverse learners, including students with disabilities. Some school professionals and researchers who are proponents of this instructional delivery model believe that, "At the core of co-teaching is determining what instructional techniques will be most efficient and effective in helping all students meet academic standards (Murawski and Dieker, 2004). This study explored the knowledge and skills of special educators related to classroom practices for effective co-teaching. Participants (N=43) were certified special educators from different states around the country. Findings suggest positive relationships between instructional communication and several other variables and may potentially help teacher education candidates develop better skills for delivering general education curriculum along with specially designed services to students with disabilities in co-taught classrooms.
