An Examination of Co-Teaching

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 were new to co-taught classrooms during the 2004 through 2005 school year, participated in this study. Data were collected from surveys, observations, and records review. Significant differences in student academic and behavioral performances were found in comparisons between the year before co-teaching and the year of co-teaching. Students with disabilities and their teachers also reported positive perspectives about co-teaching. Based on these preliminary results, co-teaching appears to be an effective instructional delivery option for meeting the needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms.