The advocates, families, students, teachers and administrators have been fighting a long hard battle for a very long time

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The advocates, families, students, teachers and administrators have been fighting a long hard battle for a very long time. This battle has been fought for years and the educators and family members involved are working together to fight and make a difference in the lives and education

of students that have special needs. Although they have made headway, their battle is continuous

and educators are working to put into place what these special education advocates have been

fighting for. Education has come a long way from just “inclusion in the classroom”. Education

now actively involves students with special needs in general education classrooms and seeks to

differentiate for the needs of all students present in this. In order to be successful with this

initiative, a new practice has been developed and put into work in the classrooms. It is now a

standard practice for general education, core classes to have co-teachers, where there is a general

education teacher present in the classroom as well as a special education teacher. This is a review

of the literature that sought out to study and determine the effectiveness of co-teaching, the type

of environment that is created with multiple adults present in the classroom and the effects that

co-teaching has on the relationship of the adult’s present in the classrooms.

Keywords: collaborative teaching, co-teaching, differentiation, education, general

education, special education, inclusion LITERATURE REVIEW 3

Collaborative teaching has been practice in many general education classrooms and is

now being recognized as a standard practice. Collaborative teaching, also called co-teaching, is a

form of instruction that is suggested to “promote effective instruction in inclusive classrooms”

(Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007, p.392). According to Scruggs, Mastropieri, and

McDuffie (2007) co-teaching typically involves one general education teacher that is paired with

one special education teacher. In this setting they will teach a class of students that include both

general education students and special education students.

While there is research that suggest co-teaching is a way to ensure the effectiveness of

teaching and to make the student’s learning experience one that is positive in nature, it is also

important to understand how effective co-teaching can be as it is compared to the effectiveness

of teaching in a special education classroom. Diana (2014) suggests that “for students in

classrooms where co-teaching occurs, [the] reported findings indicate that students become more

engaged by working in smaller groups, receive more individual attention, get their questions

answered faster, and get papers, assignments and grades back faster” (p.77). As to better

understand how co-teaching is affecting student learning outcomes and success, the effectiveness

of co-teaching and the co-teacher’s relationship with one another and how that plays into the

classroom environment.

Collaborative Teaching

Education is a field of study where there is constant movement and research taking place

to find a best practice. With the constant change in practice and continuous research taking place

and “as the result of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) and Individuals with Disabilities

Act (IDEA 2004), the U.S. Department of Education (2006) estimated that 48.9% of students

with disabilities are education in general education classrooms”. Even still we find that these LITERATURE REVIEW 4

students are struggling in content areas like mathematics. In addition, Geary (2004) demonstrates

that approximately 5% to 8% of students experience learning disabilities in the area of

mathematics. Because this is the reality of classroom, both general education educators and

special education educators should be prepared with effective instructional strategies that will

help them deliver content in a way that can meet the needs of all students present in the

classroom.

Although teachers in today’s time are highly skilled, prepared and well-trained in how to

properly prepare students for college, career and life, there is always a way to adapt and create a

better environment for all students and not just for the general student population. According to

Graziano and Navarette (2012), in 2009 U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for a

reform of teacher preparation programs and suggested that:

America’s great educational challenges require that this new generation of well-

prepared teacher significantly boost student learning and increase college-

readiness (para. 14)…If teaching is—and should be—one of our most revered

professions, teacher preparation programs should be among a university’s most

important responsibilities (para. 34).

This call for reform did suggest that there is a need for the implementation of innovative

preservice teacher education strategies that will help to increase the levels of student

achievement throughout K-12 education. The strategy that is suggested by Duncan is co-

teaching. According to McDuffie, Mastropiere, & Scruggs (2009), co-teaching is one strategy

that has been shown to significantly impact K-12 student achievement and academic

performance. LITERATURE REVIEW 5

Tremblay (2014) discusses the definition of co-teaching and identifies it as “two or more

professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended group of students in a

single physical space and thus comprises four basic characteristics: two qualified teachers (i.e.

general education and a special education teacher), teaching that is dispensed by both teachers, a

heterogeneous group of students (i.e., both general education and special needs of students) and a

shared setting (i.e. classroom)” (p.251). Throughout this article Tremblay (2014) continues to

discuss the roles that are set as a part of co-teaching and what all that entails. First, Tremblay

distinguishes five major components of operation which include support teaching, parallel

teaching, station teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching (p. 251). Contrasting these

components, Sileo and van Garderen (2010) determine that there are six structures that support

the idea of co-teaching. These six structures are: one teach, one observe, team teaching,

alternative teaching, parallel teaching, station teaching and one teach, one drift (p. 15).

When researching co-teaching and gaining a better understanding of what all it entails,

the researchers and the reader may find that the same general information will be found

throughout the work. For each of the structures or components of co-teaching mentioned

previously, there is a modification depending on the academic subject and the academic level of

the students present in the classroom and their needs. Co-teaching has become one of the most

common strategies in K-12 education for addressing the diverse learning needs of all of the

students. In addition to the diverse learning needs, co-teaching also addresses the varying

academic levels of students in the classroom.

Environment.

Classroom environment is one of the key aspects to success for students and their

development. Evidence clearly indicates “the importance of instructional and emotional LITERATURE REVIEW 6

classroom components in the prediction of children’s engagement” while also suggesting that

“children are more likely to be engaged in learning where teacher design meaningful learning

activities that follow children’s interest and foster the development of analytic and inferential

thinking in children, as well as they form warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with

children” (Aydogan, 2015, p. 606). Co-teaching is a practice set into motion to help provide both

general education students and special education students with the opportunity for success. Co-

teaching classrooms provide the students access to multiple adults who are experts in their field

and understand the content. Having access to multiple adults who can answer questions quicker

and managing the behavior in the classroom can provide students with a better opportunity to

learn.

Furthermore, evidence does suggest that there are significant differences in all teacher

practices and student behaviors with the exception of disruption with there is more than one adult

present. Teacher practices that were observed by Sweigart and Landrum (2014) showed that, in

this type of setting, occurred more frequently in multiple-adult classrooms versus one-teacher

classrooms. While teacher practices demonstrated a high level of frequency, the level of student

engagement was the only variable where students in classrooms where only one adult was

present exceed those in classrooms with more than none adult.

The dataset included and described in this study was used to determine the effectiveness

of adult presence in the classroom. The design of the study was to review the data regarding

teacher practices and student behavior as well as whether one or more than one adult was present

during direct classroom observations. The idea behind co-teaching is that there is a general

education teacher and special education teacher both present in the classroom, the reason for this

study is that “[they] believe that an exploratory study of the effects of multiple adults in the LITERATURE REVIEW 7

classroom may be a relevant preliminary step in establishing empirically the extent to which

some of the purported benefits of co-teaching might be observed on the basis of number of adults

in the classroom alone” (Sweigart and Landrum, 2014, p. 25).

Although the research regarding the topic of co-teaching and the learning environment

that it creates is long over-due, it is still has not been performed in a way that can provide solid

evidence suggesting whether it makes a difference or not on student academic achievement. The

studies leading up to this point provide a great understanding of what the benefits of co-teaching

are and what all co-teaching entails. However, there is a lack of information regarding the effect

that the presence of one or more adults in a classroom can have on the academic success and the

social behaviors that can occur in the classroom. Being that co-teaching is becoming a standard

norm in education, recognizing the benefits that students can receive outside of academics can

bring more light about the practice of co-teaching.

Co-Teacher Relationships.

Collaborative teaching is not as simple or as each as it may sound. For both the general

education teacher and special education teacher, there has to be a general understanding about

their specific roles in the classroom. Between the general education teacher and the special

education teacher, there can be a disconnect. This can be due to a lack of planning, a lack of

communication and the overall effectiveness of the co-teaching process can be limited. There are

specific measures that can take place to help ensure the success for both the co-teachers involved

and their students that are present in the classroom. One of these measures includes putting into

practice exactly what collaborative teaching suggests, collaboration. Conderman and Hedin LITERATURE REVIEW 8

(2014) find that “one way to increase the effectiveness of co-teaching is for special educators to

contribute meaningfully by assuming the role of strategy leader in the co-taught classroom”

(p.156). There is no evidence or literature that suggests only one teacher is always or even

primarily the lead teacher over the other teacher in a supportive role (King-Sears, Brawand,

Jenkins, & Preston-Smith, 2014, p.653).

As discussed before, the idea behind collaborative teaching is the idea that “teachers of

all levels have attempted to offer the best education possible by combining the talents and skills

of different instructors” (Mielke and Rush, 2016, p. 49). When working closely with another

adult and there are two different styles of teaching and instructional preferences present, each

teacher needs to recognize and understand the importance of needing to know and understand

“the finer points of each other’s educational philosophy and implementation” (Coffland,

Hannemann & Potter, 1974, p. 167). The recognition of the difference in skills and styles is

imperative to success in the co-teaching classroom.

Due to No child Left Behind (2002), “more than half of all students with disabilities in

the United States are [now being] educated in the general education classroom for more than

80% of the academic school day” (Brown, Howerter, & Morgan, 2013, p. 84). In these

classrooms, each member of the co-teaching team should maintain the responsibilities of

classroom structures and the classroom procedures. However, it is also effective for roles to be

assigned to help streamline the work that has to be accomplished in the classroom. This leads to

the topic of communication and the role that it plays in the co-teaching relationship, Brown,

Howerter and Morgan (2013) discuss the importance of communication in their study of co-

teaching and tools for success. Brown et al. (2013) make clear that “communication is essential

to the success of any collaborative partnership, allowing individuals to develop and foster LITERATURE REVIEW 9

relationships” (p. 85). As with any relationship communication plays a significant role. Being

purposeful with plans and communication with one another about their own beliefs, philosophies

and feelings toward the academic achievement of the students that are in their classrooms as well

as their perspectives on the roles that will be shared and the shared responsibilities in the

classroom. For both the general education educator and the special education educator, the

importance of the recognition that there is a large number of students that have learning

disabilities in the classroom and with that said, it is imperative that both teachers implement

instructional delivery techniques that are overall the best for providing support to their students.

Effectiveness.

Although co-teaching has become a norm in the general field of education and

continuous to grow in popularity, there is a lack in literature and information regarding the

effectiveness of this common approach individualization and differentiation in the classroom.

Moreover, co-teaching has not yet met its full potential. There are strategies in place that have

determined its effectiveness so far. Currently, studies are not looking for specific outcomes in co-

teaching classroom. As a result, determining the effectiveness and aspects of success are made

difficult. However, throughout some of these studies, it has been determined that there are areas

where improvement can take place as well. Not only will there need to be improvement in

practice, but students will benefit and be more successful and teacher will be more fulfilled and

confident in their role in a collaborative teaching classroom. At this point in time, “co-teachers

share unique responsibilities through co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing to provide

evidence based and value-added instructional practices to differentiate instruction” (Conderman

and Hedin, 2014, p. 157). LITERATURE REVIEW 10

Researchers are finding that there is a benefit to the practice; however, Scruggs,

Mastropeiri and McDuffie (2007) have found that co-teachers are still relying on the one teach,

one assist model. This model limits the use of the skills of both teachers and also limits the

differentiation of learning taking place. If co-teachers are not utilizing their opportunity to

capitalize on the learning experiences of their students, their students are not benefitting and they

are not meeting their maximum potential in the classroom. In an alternative study, the

effectiveness was assessed through the measure of two differing instructional models and student

achievement was investigated.

Dieker (2004) took the initiative to observe a set of nine co-teaching teams. During this

observation Dieker observed each team and also interviewed both the general education teacher

and the special education teacher and each of the students involve. When performing this

observation, Dieker specified that four of the nine teams utilized the team teaching model. This

model is where both the general education teacher and the special education teacher shared the

responsibilities of designing, delivering, and evaluating instruction. Three of the remaining teams

used the one teach, one support model of co-teaching, with the content or general education

teacher being the lead teacher and the special education teacher being utilized as the support

teacher. With this model, the support teacher role is not using the special education teacher’s

skills and instructional styles or “taking full advantage of the teacher’s pedagogy” (King-Sears,

Brawand, Jenkins, & Preston-Smith, 2014, p. 654).

Conclusion

Just as the term mentions, collaborative teaching or co-teaching, is two teachers working

together collaboratively to ensure the success of the students present in their classroom.

Introductory research and the evidence that has been found does lead educators and LITERATURE REVIEW 11

administrators to believe that co-teaching is a trend that is leading students to greater academic

success. Although the general findings do suggest that co-teaching is effective in a number of

ways, the evidence also demonstrates there are strategies that could be improved to become even

more effective in a number of ways for students. Some of these areas include overall

effectiveness, co-teacher relationships and the learning environment that is created for students

when using this teaching strategies. There is some research that discusses these factors involved,

but the research is also very limited in discussing specific instructional practices that may

maximize the learning potential for students. In order for the maximum learning potential to be

met educators and administrators must understand the best practices for this style of instruction.

Research regarding this topic should continue in order to create a better understanding around

this type of instruction and education setting to provide students with access to instruction that

will increase their academic success. LITERATURE REVIEW 12