Sharing the Classroom: Collaborative Teaching for the 21st Century

The theory behind this co-teaching research emphasizes the increased quality of student learning when two teachers in one classroom collaborate in planning, teaching, and assessing. Data collection from this study answers the following questions: What is the knowledge and attitude of university faculty around the concept of co-teaching? What is the knowledge and attitude of university education students around the concept of co-teaching? What is the knowledge and attitude of cooperating teachers around the concept of co-teaching? After training cooperating teachers what is the difference in the implementation of co-teaching strategies from those cooperating teachers who were not trained? Methods included providing a presentation to Teacher Education faculty. We gave pre and post assessments in the form of surveys to UWEC Teacher Education faculty, UWEC pre-service teachers (Secondary and SPED), and block cooperating teachers. Cooperating Teachers and teacher candidates attended a workshop on the co-teaching model (7 strategies) prior to the implementing the model during the Spring semester. Quantitative data from the pre/post surveys and qualitative data from two focus groups consisting of teacher candidates and cooperating teachers will inform our conclusions. We accomplished our goal by sharing our findings and methods with educators, students, and administrators at workshops. In addition to sharing our research, we also tracked their knowledge and progress in implementing co-teaching by providing a pre/post-assessment to workshop attendees and by following the progress of the cooperating teachers and teacher candidates currently participating in the program. Additionally, based on the findings we plan to expand and continue this research with greater numbers next fall. Results: our research found co-teaching to be much more effective than the current method Wisconsin uses, benefiting everyone involved. Preservice teachers are able to become more involved more quickly, their cooperating teachers can welcome them with fewer risks, and the students they teach learn more. The students involved in this research report positive experiences implementing co-teaching in their current placements. Conclusions: just as there is rarely a single correct solution to the needs faced by our country/world, educators must be prepared to adapt their pedagogical choices in response to what students in their classroom need to succeed. Co-teaching strategies are one way to accomplish that mission. With the demands of edTPA, teacher effectiveness and standardized tests looming, it is essential for educators to embrace new methods that affect the greatest gains in student achievement