Collaboration between general and special educators and student outcomes: A need for more research

Abstract

AbstractAlthough collaboration between general and special educators is frequently recommended in the literature, how much is known and understood about actual collaboration practices remains unclear. Yet, current reforms and law are calling for increased collaboration. Therefore, the purpose of this review of the literature was to explore the research base on the impact that collaboration has on academic and/or social or behavioral outcomes for students with disabilities. A total of 19 studies were located for review. Although the studies generally support collaboration for improved student outcomes, this finding is tentative at best, given the small number of studies representing a variety of research designs and collaboration models. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.