Online ISSN: 2325-7466
2006
Triannual
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
United States

Articles

Examining General Education and Special Education Teacher Preparedness for Co-Teaching Students with Disabilities

Cindy Causey, Ed.S., Lina Soares, Ph.D., Catherine S. Howerter, Ph.D., Peggy Shannon-Baker, Ph.D.
  • Cindy Causey, Ed.S. (Author) Georgia Southern University image/svg+xml
    Cindy Causey, Ed.S., is an interrelated special education teacher in Georgia. She has 18 years of teaching experience in both the general education and special education settings.
  • Lina Soares, Ph.D. (Author) Georgia Southern University
    Lina Soares, Ph.D., is a professor and the program director of the Education Specialist Program in the Department of Middle and Secondary at Georgia Southern University. She has conducted numerous research presentations from international to state settings, focusing on effective pedagogical practices for content area teachers, critical literacy, teacher education, and social justice curriculum development.
  • Catherine S. Howerter, Ph.D. (Author) Georgia Southern University
    Catherine S. Howerter, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Georgia Southern University in the Department of elementary and Special Education. Her research interests include co-teaching, inclusion, access to general curriculum for students with disabilities, and pre-service teacher preparation.
  • Peggy Shannon-Baker, Ph.D. (Author) Georgia Southern University
    Peggy Shannon-Baker, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Foundations and Reading, an affiliate faculty member of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, and a Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Fellow at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Shannon-Baker’s work bridges two areas: critical, international approaches to teacher education and the use of social justice-informed mixed methods research approaches.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.487
Abstract
It is imperative to understand how teachers are prepared for their role as co-teacher. The purpose of this study was to investigate how general education and special education teachers in one elementary school in Georgia are trained in the instructional practice of co-teaching and their perceptions on how prepared they feel to implement the method. A mixed methods approach was used and included a qualitatively-oriented survey and semi-structured interviews. Data collected in this study revealed that over half of all co-teachers at the elementary school had received some type of training on co-teaching and also felt adequately prepared to serve in the co-teaching role. Overall, participants reported positive perspectives on co-teaching despite there being challenges. The benefits of co-teaching noted a supportive and safe environment, instructional support for students and teachers, and confidence builder due to collaboration. The challenges reported included insufficient time for collaboration, inconsistent teaching schedules, and student behavior problems.
Keywords
Educational Legislation, Elementary School Teachers, Equal Education, Federal Legislation, General Education, Inclusion
References

Beninghof, A. M. (2012). Co-teaching that works. Jossey-Bass.

Brendle, J., Lock, R., & Piazza, K. (2017). A study of co-teaching identifying effective implementation strategies. International Journal of Special Education, 32(3), 538–550. Brinkmann, J., & Twiford, T. (2012). Voices from the field: Skill sets needed for effective collaboration and co-teaching. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 7(3), 1-13.

Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: How is it done? Qualitative Research, 6(1), 97–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106058877

Campbell, D. B., & Jeter-Iles, P. (2017). Educator perceptions on co-teaching more than a decade later. Journal of Behavioral & Social Sciences, 4(3), 156–163.

Chitiyo, J. (2017). Challenges to the use of co-teaching by teachers. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 13(3), 55–66.

Chitiyo, J., & Brinda, W. (2018). Teacher preparedness in the use of co-teaching in inclusive classrooms. Support for Learning, 33(1), 38–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12190

Cook, L., & Friend, M. (1995). Co-teaching: Guidelines for creating effective practices. Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(3), 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17161/fec.v28i3.6852

Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative. Prentice Hall.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Sage. Education for All Handicapped Children Act Pub. L. No. 94-142, §6, 89 Stat. 773 (1975).

Fenty, N. S., & McDuffie-Landrum, K. (2011). Collaboration through co-teaching. Kentucky English Bulletin, 60(2), 21–26.

Friend, M. (2007). The co-teaching partnership. Educational Leadership, 64(5), 58-62.

Friend, M. (2008). Co-teach! A manual for creating and sustaining classroom partnerships in inclusive schools. Marilyn Friend, Inc.

Friend, M., & Bursuck, W. D. (2009). Including students with special needs: A practical guide for classroom teachers (5th ed.). Merrill.

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2010). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (6th ed.). Merrill. Friend, M., Cook, L., Hurley-Chamberlain, D., & Shamberger, C. (2010). Co-teaching: An illustration of the complexity of collaboration in special education. Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation, 20(1), 9–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10474410903535380

Gately, S., & Gately, F. (2001). Understanding co-teaching components. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(4), 40-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/004005990103300406

Giuliani, G. A. (2012). The comprehensive guide to special education law: Over 400 frequently asked questions and answers every educator needs to know about the legal rights of exceptional children and their parents. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Gottfried, M. A., Hutt, E. L., & Kirksey, J. J. (2019). New teachers’ perceptions on being prepared to teach students with learning disabilities: Insights from California. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(5), 383. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219419863790

Greene, J. C. (2015). Preserving distinctions within the multimethod and mixed methods research merger. In S. N. Hesse-Biber & R. B. Johnson (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of multimethod and mixed methods research inquiry (pp. 606-615). Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199933624.013.37

Hang, Q., & Rabren, K. (2009). An examination of co-teaching: Perspectives and efficacy indicators. Remedial and Special Education, 30(5), 259-268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932508321018

Howerter, C. S. (2013). An analysis of co-teaching instruction provided in teacher education and inservice training for special education and general education teachers. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Las Vegas]. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2839&context=thesesdissertations.

Hurd, E., & Weilbacher, G. (2017). “You want me to do what?” The benefits of co-teaching in the middle level. Middle Grades Review, 3(1), 2-14.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).

Isherwood, R. S., Barger-Anderson, R., & Erickson, M. (2012). Examining co-teaching through a socio-technical systems lens. Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship, 2(2), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58729/2167-3454.1023

Jansen, H. (2010). The logic of qualitative survey research and its position in the field of social research methods. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(2), 1-21.

Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112–133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689806298224

Keeley, R. G., Brown, M. R., & Knapp, D. (2017). Evaluation of the student experience in the co-taught classroom. International Journal of Special Education, 32(3), 520–537. King-Sears, M. E., Brawand, A. E., Jenkins, M. C., & Preston-Smith, S. (2014). Co-teaching perspectives from secondary science co-teachers and their students with disabilities. Journal of Science Teacher Education: The Official Journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education, 25(6), 651. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-014-9391-2

Kohler-Evans, P. A. (2006). Co-teaching: How to make this marriage work in front of the kids. Education, 127(2), 260-264.

Murawski, W. W., & Lochner, W. W. (2011). Observing co-teaching: What to ask for, look for, and listen for. Intervention in School and Clinic, 46(3), 174–183. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451210378165

Plano Clark, V. L., & Ivankova, N. V. (2016). Mixed methods research: A guide to the field. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483398341

Sage. Ploessl, D. M., & Rock, M. L. (2014). eCoaching: The effects on co-teachers’ planning and instruction. Teacher Education and Special Education, 37(3), 191-215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406414525049

Poth, C. N. (2018). Innovation in mixed methods research. Sage.

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Sage.

Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Sage.

Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (2017). Making inclusion work with co-teaching. Teaching Exceptional Children, 49(4), 284–293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059916685065

Shannon-Baker, P., & Edwards, C. (2018). The affordances and challenges to integrating visual methods in mixed methods research. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(7), 935-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218772671

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage.

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). 40th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://www2.ed.gov/

Yell, M. L. (2016). The law and special education. Pearson.

Zimmerman, B., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Self-motivation for academic attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 663-676. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312029003663

There are 39 references in total.
How to Cite
Causey, C., Soares, L., Howerter, C. S., & Shannon-Baker, P. (2022). Examining General Education and Special Education Teacher Preparedness for Co-Teaching Students with Disabilities. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 17(2), 7-25. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.487

Spring/Summer 2022

Article Information

  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted May 19, 2022
  • Published June 15, 2022
  • Issue Spring/Summer 2022
  • Section Articles
  • File Downloads 0
  • Abstract Views 1
  • Altmetrics
  • Share
Download data is not yet available.