Co-Teaching: A Model for Classroom Management

Why Co-Teaching?

The need for co-teaching arises out of the necessity for special and general educators to work together to educate students with disabilities in the general education classroom. According to special education law (P.L. 94-142), students with disabilities should be served in the “least restrictive environment” or an environment that allows students with disabilities to be educated alongside their non-disabled peers. Over time, the least restrictive environment has been interpreted to be more than a particular location, but rather an educational approach that minimizes social restriction and provides the student with disabilities access to the general education curriculum (Lenz & Deschler, 2004). The result of this legislation has been a movement of students with disabilities into the general education classroom.

Although students with disabilities typically spend the majority of their time in general education classrooms, there has been some confusion about who is responsible for the education of these students (Maheady, Harper, and Mallette, 2001). Special education students have been considered the primary or sole responsibility of special education teachers, but the distribution of funds indicates that the general education teacher has been allocated primary responsibility. Funding for all students who receive instruction from general educators, including those with disabilities, is allocated to general education. These funds are used to pay budget items including salaries for general education teachers and supplies for the general education classroom (Office of the Federal Register, 2005).

Current instructional practices often limit the role of the general educator in educating students with disabilities. This is contrary to the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (2004), the law which governs services to students with disabilities. This law requires the participation of the general educator in decision making and instruction of the student with disabilities. Ideally, the general education teacher is responsible for the education of the majority of students with disabilities in the general education classroom and the special education teacher’s purpose is to support the general educator in the meeting those needs.

List of References

Lenz, K and Deschler, D. (2004). Teaching content to all: Evidence-based
inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Maheady, L., Harper, G. & Mallette, B. (2001). Peer-mediated instruction and
Interventions and Students with Mild Disabilities, 22, 4-14.

Office of the Federal Register. (2005). The Federal Register (volume 70).
Retrieved on September 1, 2005, from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/

Websites

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html

http://www.cec.sped.org/