Co-teaching: Perceptions of Urban, Secondary Co-Teachers

• Main Author: Boyd, Michelle
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2013
• Subjects: Special Education and Teaching
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618511; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1721&context=etd

Co-teaching has been used to address access and accountability mandates for students with disabilities. Despite research regarding elements needed for co-teaching success, research shows mixed results regarding co-teaching effectiveness as it relates to student achievement. Given that teachers are the most influential school-related factor vis-a-vis student achievement, this quantitative study, utilizing a cross-sectional survey design, was employed to gain additional information regarding urban, secondary co-teacher perceptions of co-teaching. to that end the Co-teacher Perceptions Survey was administered to 95 middle and high school co-teachers in an urban school district situated in eastern Virginia. Results of this study indicate that successful co-teachers have higher perceptions of co-teaching, co-teacher philosophy and co-planning than unsuccessful co-teachers. Successful co-teachers also have different perceived use of co-teaching models than unsuccessful co-teachers as they use station and alternative teaching more often than their unsuccessful counterparts. However, no differences were noted in co-teacher perceptions for the following subgroups: general and special education co-teachers, middle and high school co-teachers, novice and veteran co-teachers, and voluntary and non-voluntary co-teachers. Implications for practice include ensuring both co-teachers are held equally responsible for student performance in co-taught classes and incorporating co-planning time in the master schedule with high expectations for deliverables from the co-planning process.