Exploring How Co-Teacher Collaboration Is Associated With Classroom Fit

The purpose of this study is to explore a problem of practice in one school division where most general education and special education co-teaching teams dissolved from one school year to the next. Utilizing a multiple case study design, nine special education teachers at the school division’s three traditional high schools were interviewed to answer the following research questions: 1. What roles do high school special education teachers report that they currently play in planning, instruction, and assessment in co-taught classrooms? 2. What factors do teachers report impact collaboration between special education teachers and their general education co-teachers? 3. Is there an association between the level of collaboration between high school special education teachers and their general education co-teachers and the special education teachers’ desire to extend a co-teaching partnership? Interviews were recorded and then transcribed to facilitate analysis. Findings were interpreted through the lens of a Conceptual Framework entitled Co-Teacher Classroom Fit, which is based on Person-Organization Fit research. After analysis, the research revealed the following conclusions: 1. Special educators play a variety of roles in the classroom; 2. A myriad of factors impact collaboration including co-teacher communication and special educator subject matter confidence; 3. Co-teachers exhibiting large amounts of parity in the classroom and shared decision-making when planning, instructing, and assessing desire partnership retention; 4. Co-teachers without high levels of parity and shared decision-making when planning, instructing, and assessing desire partnership retention if special educators perceive sufficient collaborative growth occurred during the school year.