Although collaboration among service providers has been a hallmark of special education almost since its inception, co-teaching, the sharing of instruction by a general education teacher and a special education teacher or another specialist in a general education class that includes students with disabilities, is a relatively recent application.…

In implementing inclusive education, special educators frequently collaborate with general educators in various settings. How does such collaborative practice complicate the configuration of their professional identities? This paper uses the framework of "figured world" (Holland, Lachiotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998) to scrutinize the practice of one…

Co-teaching has been developed as an instructional approach to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The purpose of this study was to identify teachers' and students' perspectives of co-teaching and the efficacy of this teaching approach. Forty-five co-teachers and 58 students with disabilities (N = 103), all of whom…

In this paper, the literature related to collaboration in teacher education programmes is reviewed. The authors discuss the benefits for teacher educators who collaboratively plan and develop team-taught coursework and monitor the impact of their collaboratively developed pedagogy. Gaps in the current knowledge and research are delineated, and…

Classroom observation and interviews with key people evaluated the participation and learning of 23 children with visual impairments in 17 mainstream primary schools in Britain. Resulting recommendations included: (1) provision of adequate additional support; (2) inclusion in the main learning processes taking place in the classroom; and (3) good…

This article provides a new definition of collaboration within the context of gifted education and expands on the utilization of coteaching as a collaborative strategy. Five models of coteaching developed for teaching students with disabilities were adapted and examples of their use with gifted students in inclusive classrooms are provided.…

In recent years, special educators' roles and responsibilities have undergone significant transformations deriving from both internal and external sources. This article initially reviews some of the reform movements that have sought to bring research-based practices into the classroom, particularly for students considered exceptional or at-risk.…

Much has been written about collaboration and co-teaching in secondary settings, including the importance of understanding one's partner's teaching approach; determining readiness to co-teach; clarifying roles, responsibilities, and expectations; scheduling shared planning time; and effective communication, including constructive dialogue and…

This report describes implementation of the Combined Classroom Model to serve 28 students, including 3 with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and 6 with learning disabilities. Staff included a general education teacher, a resource teacher, and three teaching assistants. Evaluation data indicated reduced problem behavior by EBD students and…

Middletown High School is a comprehensive high school with 1,970 students, located in the environs of Washington, DC. It is distinguished by an open enrollment policy for all courses; a strong emphasis on inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) in general education classrooms; block scheduling that allows for more in-depth and…

Meeting the needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms requires collaboration between general and special education teachers. In this article, the challenges of co-teaching at the secondary level are explored through the voices of general and special education teachers who co-taught in inclusive classrooms at a large…

Ninety-two teachers participating in co-teaching responded to a survey and 12 of these teachers were subsequently interviewed. Results indicated: (1) general education co-teachers were perceived as doing more than special education partners in the inclusive classroom and (2) co-teachers who had access to identified collaborative practices,…

Interviews with, and classroom observations of, 17 teachers in Queensland (Australia) and Pennsylvania examined co-teaching approaches to provide support to students with disabilities in inclusive secondary classrooms. Co-teaching partnerships in both countries were dominated by content subject teachers with special educators in…

Carolina PALS (Programmed Alternative Learning for Students) is a program designed to meet the educational, social, and emotional needs of students with mild disabilities in grades 3-10, by having one special education teacher and one regular teacher share teaching in the regular classroom. In 1992-93, the program operated in 50 schools, reaching…

This study evaluated an in-class service model for third graders at risk of school failure in 13 schools. The model included collaborative consultation, cooperative teaching, parent involvement, and strategic and adapted instruction. Significant effects were found on writing scores for students at risk (but not students with learning disabilities)…