Conditions for Co-teaching: Lessons from a Case Study

Abstract

Co-teaching–general and special education teachers teaching together in a general education classroom–is frequently offered as a means of promoting inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education curriculum but few researchers have examined the context in which special educators co-teach. Six special educators at the middle school and high school level were observed and interviewed in their co-taught classrooms. Using grounded theory methods for data analysis, a description of the roles the special educators took in the co-taught classrooms, the influences upon those roles, and the reasons these teachers participated in co-teaching was developed. These special educators took on roles ranging from providing support to the general educator to team teaching, some of which deviated a great deal from the co-teaching literature. Knowledge of content, attitude of the general educator, and scheduling issues influenced the roles that each teacher took and most teachers felt pressured by administrators, other professionals, and the community to participate in co-teaching without much support. These results raise questions about what the expectations are of co-teaching from both administrative and teacher perspectives and what teachers need in order to implement co-teaching programs.