Date of Award

Winter 12-7-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Anthony Colella, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Barbara Strobert, Ed.D.

Committee Member

Anthony Cavanna, Ed.D.

Keywords

inclusion, co-teaching, collaboration, planning time, professional development

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to examine teachers’ perceptions toward co- teaching in inclusion classrooms and provide valuable information on relevant content, activities and assignments that focus on collaboration between school professionals. A second purpose of this study was to add knowledge to the existing literature describing factors for developing effective co-teaching programs in schools that serve large populations of students with disabilities in urban schools. This included examining their perspectives about the co-teaching model, their relationships formed with their co-teacher, and the support given by administration. The study was a descriptive study that used qualitative research methods to understand the perspectives of teachers involved in co-taught classrooms. The data collection method was semi- structured interviews. Participants consisted of general and special education teachers with at least two years of co-teaching experience employed in grades PK-8. The setting was an urban district located in New Jersey.

After the research was coded and analyzed, it was determined that collaboration was essential to the co-teaching process and support from administration was needed to work on issues such as co-planning and role ambiguity.

The study produced several results that align with concepts from the literature review. The results were categorized into six overarching themes: role of the teacher, exposure to the co- teaching model, collaboration, trust, training, and administrative support.

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