Final Results

Question 1: There is an atmosphere of cooperation in the classroom

All the special educators agreed or strongly agreed, while a little over a third of the general educators disagreed or strongly disagreed. This is a red flag that there is tension in some of the co-teaching classrooms, but perhaps without the special educators knowledge. Hopefully doors of communication can be opened and the root of the problems can be addressed.

Question 2: You and your team teacher effectively communicate with each other

After seeing the discrepencies from the first question, it was clear to see that the teachers were not communicating (at least not about the issues!). The results to this showed the majority of both general and special educators feeling like there WAS effective communication-- a little mind boggling.

Question 3: The workload is appropriately distributed between you and your team teacher

And here is where we start to see where the problems lie... All special educators agreed or strongly agreed (one was neutral) that the workload was appropriately distributed. However, the majority of the general educators disagreed or strongly disagreed. This makes me think that roles are not clearly defined. Expectations of what each teacher should be responsible for are not clear.

Question 4: Conflicts within the team are resolved quickly

Everyone seemed to be a little closer to the same page with this question. All special educators shared positive feedback, and the majority of the general educators did also.

Question 5: Expectations are high for all students

All special educators strongly agreed, the remaining agreed. Over 75% of the general educators agreed or strongly agreed. This was reassuring.

Question 6: Your disciplinary approach is collaborative

Here is where we see another glaring discrepency. Most special educators and general educators actually agreed that their disciplinary approach is collaborative. However, its is clear that in some classrooms it is not. Those who disagreed almost match up perfectly between the special educators and general educators. Makes you wonder if they're on the same team!

Question 7: You and your team teacher have sufficient time to plan together

I was surprised to see that most special and general educators felt like they do! In the literature we read we found that this is often a common complaint. I wasn't sure what to make of the many "neutral" responses to this question though...

Question 8: Special Education students benefit from co-teaching

THIS was alarming. Over 75% of the special educators agree, but about 66% of the general educators disagreed or strongly disagreed. The whole point of co-teaching is to include special education students into the general education classroom. If they aren't benefiting... something needs to be fixed! Clearly the attitudes are different on both sides.

Question 9: General Education students benefit from co-teaching

I thought it was interesting that as a whole more special and general educators felt like the general education students were benefiting from the co-teaching model than the special education students. In a lot of literature teachers often complain that special education students distract or hinder the general education students. But when comparing the special ed and general ed teachers attitudes, once again more special educators feel like students are benefiting. They clearly have different views.

Question 10: You consider your team teaching experience to be successful

This was kind of interesting. All but 1 special educators agreed (1 strongly disagreed). This is what I kind of expected based on their overwhelmingly positive reponses throughout the survey. The general educators were split 50/50 between strongly agreeing and strongly disagreeing, with very few hanging in the middle ground.

Overall it is clear that the co-teachers in this school need additional professional development on co-teaching. They need clearly defined roles and expectations. And they need to start voicing concerns, because it appears as though the special educators have no clue that anything is wrong!