The Power Of Two: Co Teaching In The Classroom

Integrated Co-Teaching, also known as ICT, is an educational setting where students with disabilities learn alongside general education students. The ICT setting provides students the support of a special education teacher within the general education classroom. The goal of integrated co-teaching is to ensure that students with disabilities master grade level skills and concepts, while having their special education needs met. In addition to mastering skills and concepts, having ICT classrooms allows students with disabilities to remain with their age appropriate peers and learn in an environment that is least restrictive. There have been many debates on whether or not integrated co-teaching has positive or negative effects for students with and without disabilities. The concerns are either academic and social benefits or setbacks. There has been quite a bit of research to show that integrated co-teaching has positive outcomes for both general education students and students with disabilities.

In the article, “Differentiating Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms for Students with Emotional/Behavior Difficulties,” (2014) it discusses how a teacher or teachers uses co-teaching centers for teaching/learning purposes to help differentiate instruction in a classroom. The number of students are increasing in the classroom who have EBD which is emotional and behavior difficulties. Therefore, the article shows how beneficial have a co-teacher in the classroom to help plan, teach and assess.

Collaboration in the world of education has become an increasingly popular method of addressing a variety of school issues, such as curriculum design, behavioral plans, professional development and management of resources. One of the areas in which collaboration is becoming more popular is co-teaching in special education, where special education teachers and general education teachers share the planning and instruction responsibilities for inclusion classrooms (Friend & Cook, 2010). As academic standards for the education of students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their typical peers due to the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the co-teaching model has been increasingly

The special education teacher interviewed, showed me that she uses the teaching/individual goals related to each student’s IEP. The teacher always tries to excel and reach the needs to relate

I was also wondering why there was a shortage of special education teachers as well, I ultimately think it’s because many people believe the teacher pay is not high enough and special education requires a lot additional work such as filling out IEP forms, maintaining a caseload of students, attending IEP meetings and conducting behavior interventions. Coming from someone who loves special education I believe becoming a special education teacher is actually a rewarding job because you get to teach a diverse group of learners. There are a variety of classroom co-teaching methods. Supportive co-teaching often seems to work well in classrooms. When teachers are supportive co-teaching one member of the team is the leader and often teaches the class

While in conversation I came to learn that parents have a major role because they are the advocate for their child and they have a common right to be a part of IEP meetings. Not limited to making decisions on how the student will be taught and where they will be taught. Mrs. Mangum stated, “Every school has a special education

Co teaching and collaboration support inquiry based learning by providing an opportunity for LIMS and teachers to work as partners. The partnership provides learning opportunities for students to become engaged, and immersed in what they are learning. By each person assisting one another they are able to offset one another's weaknesses and strengths while instructing lessons together. This helps everyone involved to be successful. According to Harada and Coatney (2014) "When we make connections beyond the walls of the library to connect our work with classroom teachers and specialist and content'area standards we have the opportunity to become full members of our schools literacy teams. " (p.64)

Bessette (2008) considers co-teaching to be “one of the most popular service delivery models for increasing instructional equity for students with disabilities in heterogeneous classrooms” (p. 1376). Dieker explains that students’ needs are better understood in the inclusive setting because the teacher-student ratio is reduced and teachers have more time to pay attention to individual needs. One of the benefits of co-teaching is the unique perspectives and strengths of general educators and special educators teaching approaches and instructional strategies (Friend, Reising, & Cook, 1993). In the collaborative setting, co-teachers work together to develop personal classroom arrangements which best suits their instructional needs. Magiera and Zigmond (2005) point out that the student-teacher ratio is lower, which leads to more positive behavior management as well as two professionals supporting one another. Additionally, this method of inclusion often allows teachers to learn from each other in an environment that is most often highly beneficial for all students (p.79).

Examples of inclusive practices the team supports are co-teach integrated classes with accommodations implemented across the content; offering access to various electives and activities. The challenges experienced by the special education team is making sure accommodations are taking place in all classes, creating a program that meets the post-grad needs/plans for students with special needs at a “college prep” school, and have time to train/support general education teachers regarding policies and procedures for special education.

If I have the opportunity to work for The School District to provide support for the inclusion support to children with disabilities ages 3- 5.I will support to that every classroom where children with disabilities are coming to have a professionals co teaching support, the co teaching will help the head teacher in the classroom, she will provide help and support to child that may be assigned to work with, This inclusion support is fundamental, especial on children who’s need a constant help.

Interviewing the special education supervisor has made me aware of how important my role is as a regular education teacher to special students who need additional support in my classroom. The goal of the teacher is to ensure that the IEP is followed to ensure the academic success of all students. IEP stands for Individual Education Plan and the plan is usually developed when students have several deficiencies in certain key subject areas such as: reading comprehension, basic reading, reading fluency, written expressions, math calculation, and math reasoning. Students are referred to the special education department usually in elementary school, additionally; according to the high school special education supervisor there are very few referrals

I approach collaboration as a team player, and I believe students need more than one person to guide them to their full educational potential. Also, active and prepared participation of weekly PLC meetings with the teachers of my special education students to plan collaborative curriculum have increased results in math and reading substantially. Participating in co-teaching furthers my repertoire of knowledge to assist my students. I have learned a vast amount from sharing and consulting with colleagues regarding students, observing mentoring teachers, and planning activities to ensure growth in students.

Individualized education programs are a key component in special education. An IEP lays out the goals and methods needed for helping special education students reach their potential. These legal documents insure that all students are getting the resources they need in an education setting. Brewer and Diliberto use their article to explain a family’s experience with the IEP process and then offer tips to the reader to make their IEP meetings more successful. Brewer and Diliberto begin by telling the story of a kindergarten boy with behavioral issues. The article states, “At the beginning of the Sam’s kindergarten year, his teacher started sharing concerns about his behavior with Ms. Payton. According to his teacher, Sam was not able to sit still and was eating erasers” (Brewer and Diliberto,

The agency is committed to the education and enrichment of Middle School students’ ranging from 11-14 years of age. The counseling department in the school is committed to working with kids with special education needs and providing them service that is outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) or Individualized Education program (IEP) plans are created to ensure that schools are in compliance with IDEA. These plans are derived through the collaboration with the IEP team, which consist of General Education teachers, the school Social worker, School Counselor, Special Education Educator and parents/guardians of the student. During these meetings,

Co-teaching is important, especially in the school I did my special education field experience at because they are full inclusion. This school district did co-teaching for math and reading. Students receive their assistance with in the classroom while the teacher is instructing class. It takes a lot of planning and collaboration with the classroom teacher, I believe this is not the most beneficial way to teach students that have learning needs. it can become very distracting for the student because what is going on around them. Learning with their peers is important, the instructions their receiving in the classroom are above their level. I wonder how this is providing the best education possible?