One Secondary School's Subject-Area Teachers' Perspectives on Co-Teaching Students with Special Needs

This study is an action research study conducted at one rural northeastern Pennsylvania junior/senior high school to gain secondary education subject-area teacher's perspectives on educating students with special needs in a co-teaching environment. A written open-ended questionnaire was issued to relevant faculty members which determined that co-teaching has many challenges but is a positive experience overall; co-teachers can be reduced to performing only the tasks of teacher aides; both co-teachers need to know the academic material and be comfortable with each other; and co-teachers must have time to plan lessons together.