2. What Will be Learned?
Pre-service and in-
service professional
development “gaps” that
impact collaboration
► How to make appropriate
accommodations to
positively impact student
performance using
collaborative approaches
► Three research-
based, collaborative
models and hands-
on experience with
each model
► Synthesize and
demonstrate
application of what
was learned
3. Why Collaborative Learning?
Collaboration is an essential form of interaction.
It is now a part of the educational process.
For all students with special needs and
disabilities, collaboration leads to deeper
learning (Friend and Bursuck, 2014).
Collaboration encourages higher-level thinking,
oral communication, self-control, and leadership.
4. Pre-service and In-service
Pre-service
• Before they begin teaching, student
teachers are given pre-service
training
• Pre-service teachers are in the
process of obtaining certification to
teach (Hess, 2010).
In-service
• Provides opportunities for
working teachers to learn
• It is for teachers who have
completed their qualification
or are already teaching in a
classroom (Hess, 2010).
5. Pre and In Service Gaps that
Impact Collaboration
Pre-Service
• Classes within a program
• Practicum Opportunities
• Student Teaching
In-Service
• Collaborative teaching
• Integrated Co-teaching
• Student development
(Hess, 2010).
6. Appropriate Accommodations
Criteria for accommodations
• All learners should be able to access the curriculum
and acquire knowledge
• Should be readily available
• Provided to students with learning disabilities so as to
give them an equal opportunity to complete the same
tasks as other students.
• The right accommodation should be selected
depending on the learner (Seligmann, 2012).
7. Appropriate Accommodations
Examples of Appropriate accommodations
• Longer time periods
• Frequent breaks
• Preferential seating
• Testing accommodations
• Room physical layout
• Tutoring from peers and/or teachers
• Verbal responses
(Seligmann, 2012).
8. Collaborative Models
Collaborative
Models
Team
Teaching
Station
Teaching
Parallel
Teaching
Special education teachers in a collaborative learning class work together in
planning lessons, teaching, tracking student development, and coordinating the
class operations (Aron & Loprest, 2012).
This method makes it simpler to teach all students the same material and in
holding everyone to similar academic standards.
Collaborative teaching strategies include:
• Team teaching
• Parallel teaching
• Station teaching
9. Team Teaching
Benefits
• Both teachers have an active role in the
classroom.
• Exposes students to a variety of
complimentary teaching styles
• Models a variety of methods for
presenting and interacting with
information.
• Provides further opportunities to pursue
teachable moments that can emerge
Challenges
• Time consuming for
teachers to build work
relationships
• Requires one to plan a
lot and coordinate
schedules
• Teachers must be equally
involved in planning and
grading.
(Gosse, Hoffmann, &
Invernizzi, 2012).
10. Parallel Teaching
Benefits
• Both teachers have an active role in
the classroom
• Reduces the student-teacher ratio
• Small group teaching is possible
• Allows students to ask more
questions during the class period.
• Allows students to collaborate in a
variety of classes
Challenges
• Both teachers must be well-
versed in the subject matter
• Difficult to maintain control
over noise, interruption, and
space
• Careful timing is needed
(Sansosti, Goss &
Noltemeyer, 2012).
11. Station Teaching
Challenges
• Necessitates extensive planning
• If students fail to move at the same
speed, they will not be able to
complete all of the stations
• Some students can find it disruptive
and distracting
• Pre-teaching about expectations for
independent work time is needed
Benefits
• Both teachers have an active role in
the classroom
• Reduces the number of students per
instructor
• Resets students’ attention, increasing
engagement
• Supports a Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) approach to
education.
(Seligmann, 2012).
12. What was Learned?
Stump Your Partner Case Study
• Students take a minute to come up with a tough question based on what
they've learned so far in class
• The question is posed by the students to the person sitting next to them
• Ask students to write down their questions and turn them in to take this activity
a step further. You may use these questions to make assessments or exams.
They can also be used to assess student comprehension
13. Conclusion
In special education, collaboration is a team teaching approach
Collaboration between general and special education teachers is critical in addressing the
needs of this student population
Collaborative teams share resources and ideas, energy, and a desire to see all students excel
Collaborative sessions for instructional preparation and progress assessment are common
among special education teachers
14. References
Aron, L., & Loprest, P
. (2012). Disability and the education system.
Friend, M. P
., & Bursuck, W. D. (2014). Including students with special needs: A practical guide for
classroom teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Education.
Gosse, C., Hoffman, L., & Invernizzi, M. (2012). Overlap in speech-language and reading services
for kindergarteners and first graders.
Sansosti, F., Goss, S., & Noltemeyer, A. (2011). Perspectives of special education directors on
response to intervention in secondary schools.
Seligmann, T. J. (2012)> Sliding doors: The Rowley decision, interpretation of special education law,
and what might have been.
Editor's Notes
The Agenda for this presentation includes the following:
Identifying pre-service and in-service professional development “gaps” that impact collaboration
Providing information on how to make appropriate accommodations to positively impact student performance using collaborative approaches
Listing three research-based, collaborative models and providing hands-on experience with each model
Providing an opportunity to synthesize and demonstrate application of what was learned
In special education, collaboration refers to a team teaching approach. A joint team can include speech, behavioral, and/or physical therapists in addition to the regular classroom teacher and the special education teacher. Collaboration is an important interactive process and has become a part of educational activity. Collaboration leads to deeper learning for all students with special needs and disabilities (Friend and Bursuck, 2014). Collaboration promotes higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills. Collaboration allows students to be in the least restrictive setting possible. More special education students are being taught in normal classes these days, and collaboration is becoming more common. Collaboration aims to ensure that children with learning disabilities receive a free, adequate public education in a traditional classroom, including personalized instruction.
Pre-service teacher education refers to the education and training that student teachers receive before they begin teaching. In-service teacher preparation, on the other hand, offers resources for working teachers to learn. In general, in-service teachers are seen as the center of educational development. Any learning opportunity for working teachers is referred to as in-service teacher education. In comparison to a preservice teacher, who is in the process of becoming a teacher, an in-service teacher has credentials or is already teaching in a classroom (Hess, 2010).
Teaching classes within a curriculum is the first opportunity for pre-service teachers to gain professional development. Pre-service teacher education students must complete both their degree and teacher training programs at the same time. In principle, given the unique nature of education, a diverse spectrum of experience and research may help to better educate students in schools. Practicums are intended to highlight the value of hands-on learning. A healthy, efficient classroom atmosphere is created by student teaching (Hess, 2010).
The first opportunity for in-service teachers is collaborative teaching. Collaborative teaching helps teachers to reach a wider variety of students by utilizing methods that engage students' imaginations while still accommodating individual learning differences. Integrated co-teaching is another opportunity. An integrated co-teaching classroom is one in which a general education and a special education teacher work together to educate a class of students with and without disabilities. Student development is the next opportunity, which combines academic learning programs with broader issues of personal development and growth (Hess, 2010).
Accommodations are changes to the way tasks are delivered that enable students with learning disabilities to perform the same assignments as their peers. Accommodations do not change the quality of tasks, offer students an unfair advantage, or change what a test tests in the case of evaluations. They do allow students with learning disabilities to demonstrate their knowledge without being hampered by their disability. School tasks and assessments with accommodations should be assessed in the same way as those without accommodations are. After all, accommodations are supposed to give everyone equal and immediate access to the task at hand, rather than giving the user an unfair advantage (Seligmann, 2012).
After a child has been officially identified with a learning disability, the child or parent can require accommodations tailored to that child's unique needs. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a child's individualized education program (IEP) team, which includes both the parent and the child, must determine which accommodations are suitable for him or her. A student's IEP should include all necessary accommodations.
Examples of Appropriate accommodations
Longer time periods
Frequent breaks
Preferential seating
Testing accommodations
Room physical layout
Tutoring from peers and/or teachers
Verbal responses
Testing Accommodations (Seligmann, 2012).
Integrated coteaching (collaborative team teaching) is becoming more popular as more schools shift toward inclusion. Teachers from general education and special
education collaborate to schedule lessons, instruct, track student development, and manage a shared learning class (Aron & Loprest, 2012). However, not all teachers are aware of co-teaching models, the preparation and teamwork that goes into them, or the various ways they can be implemented in the classroom. It's a method for teaching all students the same material and holding them to the same educational expectations. Team teaching, parallel teaching, and station teaching are examples of collaborative teaching techniques.
In team teaching, all teachers are in the room at the same time but take turns teaching the entire class. The instructor does not usually plan who takes which part of the lesson, and when one of you makes a point, the other can jump in and expand if needed (Gosse, Hoffmann, & Invernizzi, 2012).
With team teaching, both teachers have an active role in the classroom. It exposes students to a variety of complimentary teaching styles. This strategy also models a variety of methods for presenting and interacting with information. It provides further opportunities to pursue teachable moments that can emerge (Gosse, Hoffmann, & Invernizzi, 2012).
However, team teaching is time consuming for teachers to build work relationships. It requires one to plan a lot and coordinate schedules. Nonetheless, teachers must be equally involved in planning and grading (Gosse, Hoffmann, & Invernizzi, 2012).
The team divides the class into two groups and each teacher teaches the same knowledge at the same time in parallel teaching. When the content being taught is exceedingly tough, parallel teaching works well to distinguish instruction. Learning challenging material in a smaller group may be beneficial to students (Sansosti, Goss & Noltemeyer, 2012).
Both teachers have a hands-on role in the learning process. Reduces the student-to-teacher ratio and the workload associated with educating a broad group. Small group teaching is possible, which can be particularly beneficial for students who study and think differently. During class, students have the opportunity to ask more questions. It allows students to collaborate in a variety of group. Finally it maintains the intellectual rigor of a challenging lesson when sharing responsibility between both teachers (Sansosti, Goss & Noltemeyer, 2012).
However, both teachers must be well-versed in the subject matter in order for the students to learn the same content. W hen working in the same classroom, it can be difficult to regulate noise, distraction, and space. To ensure that both teachers finish the lesson at the same time, meticulous timing is needed (Sansosti, Goss & Noltemeyer, 2012).
The class is divided into three or more groups, and the classroom has several learning centers in station teaching. Teachers teach the same content in different ways to each group as the students cycle through the stations (Seligmann, 2012).
On a positive note, station teaching gives both teachers have a hands-on role in the learning process. It reduces the ratio of students to teachers. With each station rotation, students' attention is reset, increasing interaction. Moreover, each adult in the room has a specific teaching obligation. Finally, it supports a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to education (Seligmann, 2012).
However, teaching and material training necessitate extensive planning. If students do not move at the same speed, they will not be able to complete all of the stations. Some students can find it disruptive and distracting. Pre-teaching about expectations for independent work time is needed (Seligmann, 2012).
Stump Your Partner is an example of a classroom activity that promotes collaborative learning. First, students take a minute to come up with a tough question based on what they've learned so far in class. Then, the question is posed by the students to the person sitting next to them. Following this, the teacher asks students to write down their questions and turn them in to take this activity a step further. The teacher may use these questions to make assessments or exams. They can also be used to assess student comprehension.
Collaboration is a team teaching approach. Collaboration between general and special education teachers is critical in addressing the needs of this student population. Collaborative teams share more than just tools and ideas; they also share a passion for seeing all students excel. Students with learning disabilities and other special education needs, as well as students in general education, benefit from this. Special education teachers usually prepare, schedule, and lead a series of meetings, including regular IEP meetings and ongoing joint meetings that are essential for instructional preparation and progress tracking.