Rural school leaders are faced with challenges to close the achievement gap between subgroups, mainly general and special education. Schools and school systems face several barriers to move forward with positive trends in the data provided by the Alabama State Department of Education. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of co-teaching and the impact it had on student achievement between general and special education subgroups. The study employed a sequential mixed method design. The questionnaire's qualitative data showed the following themes about teachers' perception of co-teaching and student achievement: collaboration, engagement, professional development and planning, and achievement. The quantitative archived data for third, fourth, and fifth graders data showed that there's no significant difference between groups in co-taught and non-co-taught classrooms based on the One-way ANOVA Post Hoc statistical test. The study's findings may assist rural area leaders with research-based strategies that will help teaching and learning to potentially close the achievement gap between subgroups.