Since the inception of ESEA of 1965 student achievement has been one focus on public education. Fast-forward to NCLB of 2001, a reenactment of the ESEA of 1965; school leaders have been pushed to demonstrate student achievement to all learners. With increased demands to close the achievement gap and track struggling learners co-teaching models…

Inclusive education is generally conceptualized as "access" to learning opportunities, "participation" with typically-developing peers and adults, and systems-level "supports" (Division for Early Childhood [DEC] & National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2009). This definition has become…

From the time they begin school, relationships with teachers are the foundation upon which children build their identities as students. Those relationships can either facilitate or impede learning. This is even more salient for students who struggle to meet grade level expectations and master academic demands. This study explored how elementary…

There has been a significant rise in children diagnosed with learning disabilities over the last decade. Children who have disabilities were moved from segregated learning settings to inclusion model classrooms with coteaching implemented as a way for special education teachers and general education teachers to service the needs of these children.…

The purpose of this non-experimental casual comparative study was to examine the relationship between the educational environment (i.e., co-taught, or resource room), and academic growth with oral reading fluency (ORF) measures for second and third grade students with disabilities. The study also explored possible unique predictors of increased…

This study is a survey that was intended to measure the connection between what co-teachers actually do and what they think they should be doing as best practice. Second, it intended to study the roles and responsibilities that co-teachers report fulfilling. Finally, whether self-efficacy is a predictor of co-teacher roles and responsibilities is…

This dissertation explores the extent to which the beliefs and practices of teachers who work in a "struggling" school can be shifted towards inclusiveness through an action research based professional development program. The school was struggling in that it was charged with the education of children who are marginalized by a range of…

Resilience, as defined by the literature, deals with the relationship between individuals and their environment. This capstone project followed elementary students over a three-year period to investigate and determine the impact a co-teaching intervention model has on resilience, grade-point average (GPA), state testing scores in English language…

There is a consequential amount of research in regards to coteaching and student achievement in students with disabilities. Although there is a substantial body of research, there is still uncertainty whether achievement in mathematics differs between students with and without disabilities in cotaught and non-cotaught classrooms. Therefore, the…

This mixed methods case study examined the systems thinking component of collaboration through coteaching at inclusive public school environments to facilitate the needs of special education students who are presently segregated at nonpublic schools. This study first analyzed qualitative data in the form of interviews from a sample population of 5…

During 2012-2016, students with disabilities (SWDs) in Grades 3-5 in an urban elementary school in New York City did not meet the New York State English Language Arts (ELA) standards. The scores had been consistently low for SWDs when compared to their nondisabled peers. SWDs are placed in the inclusion classrooms with an Individual Education Plan…

This dissertation presents the findings of an exploratory, multiple-case study in which eight public secondary school teachers engaged in a professional development (PD) program centered on improving teacher instruction for English learners (ELs). The participants worked as co-teachers with teacher credential candidates, serving as both mentors…

Teachers in a new school setting tend to display lower teacher efficacy, which negatively affects teaching performance and student learning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of teacher efficacy in pre-service teachers and explore key factors influencing the perceptions as a result of pre-service training.…

The purpose of this program evaluation case study was to seek the perceptions of a group of teachers based on their experience with Whole Brain Teaching strategies at a suburban middle school. Perceptions and factors that lead to teacher use of the strategies were explored with the intention of informing stakeholders of whether teachers view these…

This dissertation investigated regular and special education co-teachers' perceptions of professional development programs and their readiness to co-teach in the elementary mathematics classroom. A gap in co-teaching literature exists regarding how teachers perceived co-teaching professional development and how it impacts their readiness to…