Bachelor in Special Needs Education

Notes in ELECT (Effective Communication with Professionals and Families)

PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
1. Identify and describe different collaboration approaches
2. Identify and discuss different factors to consider when choosing for an effective
collaboration approach

Types of Collaboration Efforts

Nature of
Approach Contact with Description
Students
Collaboration- Indirect General education teacher requests the services of the
Consultation special education teacher (i.e., consultant) to help generate
ideas for addressing an ongoing situation. The approach is
interactive.
Peer Support Indirect Two general education teachers work together to identify
Systems effective solutions to classroom situations. This approach
emphasizes the balance of the relationship.
Teacher Indirect Teams provide support to general education teachers. Made
Assistance up of core members plus the team seeking assistance, it
Teams emphasizes analyzing the problems situation and
developing potential solutions.
Co-teaching Direct General and special education teachers work together in
providing direct service to students. Employing joint planning
and teaching, the approach emphasizes the joint
responsibilities of instruction.
From Cooperative Teaching: Rebuilding the Schoolhouse for All Students (p. 74) by J. Bauwens and J. J.
Hourcade, 1995, Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Critical Variables for Team Efforts and Effectiveness

Team Goals Team Cohesion
Purpose of the team is clear. Members feel safe sharing ideas.
Team goals are understood by all members. The team has trust among members.
Team goals are regularly reviewed. Members (especially parents) feel equally empowered.
Team goals are established by team members. The team has a unified goal.
Team goals are clearly stated. The team has time to celebrate.
Team goals are modified by team members. The team has support from superiors.
Team goals are supported by the family. Members have respect for each other.
Team goals are attainable. The team has recognition for efforts.
Team goals are prioritized. The team has autonomy for decision making.
Members anticipate positive and negative outcomes. The team has a healthy regard for disagreement.
Members are satisfied with goals that have been selected.
Team Logistics
Team Roles and Team Membership Progress is evaluated internally, by members.
Team members are committed to the team process. Team procedures are clearly understood.
The team has a leader.
Members are accountable to the team.
Team roles are clearly understood.
Team roles are perceived by members as being important.
New team members are added when practical.
The team leader is unbiased.

Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2004). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings, 4th ed.
Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
 Team Communication Team Outcomes
Decisions are made for the good of the student. Team makes modifications to the plan as needed.
Team members have adequate listening time. Members are clear about their responsibilities for the plan.
Decisions are alterable. Members are committed implementing the plan.
Team members have equal opportunities to speak. Solutions are practical.
Decisions are reached by consensus. A plan was implemented.
Team reviews the impact of the plan.
A plan was developed.
Parent satisfaction is part of the evaluation.
Outcomes are evaluated internally, by members.
The family is generally feeling better.
A plan was agreed on.
A decision was made.
Outcomes are evaluated at regularly scheduled times.
Members are satisfied with the plan.
From “Process Variables Critical for Team Effectiveness” (p.168) by J.L. Fleming & L.E. Monda-Amaya, 2001,
Remedial and Special Education, 22.

“Working as a team enables teachers to plan more effectively, to problem-solve more efficiently,
and to intervene with a student throughout the school day.” (Allsop, Santos, & Linn, 200, p. 142
cited by Smith, et.al, 2004)

Collaboration in schools for serving children with special needs occurs both formally, when
teams are formed around a particular child, and formally, when two teachers get together and
discuss how to meet a child’s specific need (Friend, 2000).

Collaboration occurs when more than one person works voluntarily toward a common goal,
frequently related to the success of students (Halvorsen & Neary, 2001).

Collaboration-Consultation
→a model that emphasizes a close working relationship between general and special
educators. “Effective collaboration consists of designing and using a sequence of goal-oriented
activities that result in improved working relationships between professional colleagues. The
responsibility for collaborating can either be the sole responsibility of one individual who seeks
to improve their working relationship” (Cramer, 1998, p. 3)
There are several benefits of collaboration (Mundschenk & Foley, 1997):
1. Collaboration facilitates the ongoing planning, evaluation, and modification necessary to
ensure the success of included placements.
2. Collaboration enables general education classrooms to meet the needs of students with
and without disabilities in new and exciting ways.
3. Collaboration can provide the personal and professional support of highly skilled
colleagues.
4. Collaboration can result in personal and professional growth for all participants.
5. Collaboration helps teachers identify ways to access the skills, knowledge, and expertise
of other teachers (p. 58).

Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2004). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings, 4th ed.
Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
 Through collaborating with each other, general education and special education teachers
can bring more ideas and experiences to help students achieve success. Through
consultation, teachers can assist each other in utilizing skills that also result in positive
outcomes for students.

→Effective communication
→Time for planning
→Support of school administrators
→Scheduling

Co-Teaching
a restructuring of teaching procedures in which two or more educators possessing distinct set of skills
work in a co-active and coordinated fashion to jointly teach academically and behaviorally
heterogeneous groups of students in educationally integrated settings, that is, in general [education]
classrooms. (Bauwens & Hourcade, 1995, p. 46)

Co-teaching is an arrangement of two or more teachers or other school staff who

collectively assume the responsibilities for the same group of students on a regular basis
(Thousand & Villa, 1990).
This model “provides students with an educational environment that lends itself to an increased
potential for individualized instruction to meet the needs of all students” (Van Laarhoven, 1999
p. 170). Like all collaborative models, it requires extensive planning (Lanagerock, 2000).

One of the obvious difficulties in implementing the co-teaching model is ensuring the
compatibility of the individuals working together. Co-teaching requires individuals who are willing
to give up some control and accept positive, constructive criticism from colleagues.

Common characteristics of successful co-teachers include the following (Walther-Thomas et al.

2000):

 Professional competence
 Personal confidence
 Professional enthusiasm
 Respect for colleagues’ skills and contributions
 Good communication and problem-solving skills
 Personal interest in professional growth
 Flexibility and openness to new ideas
 Effective organizational skills
 Previous experience teaming with others
 Willingness to invest extra time in the process as needed
 Commitment to planning weekly with partner
 Voluntary participation in co-teaching
Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2004). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings, 4th ed.
Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
 Variations of Co-Teaching: Advantages and Disadvantages
Variation
Interactive Teaching
(Whole group)
Partners alternate roles presenting
new concepts, reviewing,
demonstrating, role playing, and
monitoring
Station Teaching
(Small Group)
Students in groups of three or more
rotate to various teacher-led and
independent work stations where
new instruction, review, and/or
practice is provided. Students may
work at all stations during the
rotation.
Parallel Teaching
(Small group)
Students are divided into mixed-
ability groups, then each partner
teaches a group. The same material
is presented in each group.
Alternative Teaching
(Big group; small group)
One partner teaches an enrichment
lesson or reteaches a concept for the
benefit of a small group, while the
other partner teaches and/or
monitors the remaining members of
the class.
From Collaboration for Inclusive Education (p. 190) by C. Walther-Thomas, L. Korinek, V.L. McLaughlin, and B. T. Williams, 2000,
Boston: Ally and Bacon.
Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2004). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings, 4th ed.
Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
Advantages
 Provides systematic
observation/data collection
 Promotes role/content sharing
 Facilitates individual assistance
 Models appropriate academic,
social, and help-seeking behaviors
 Teaches question asking
 Provides clarification (e.g.
concepts, rules, vocabulary)
 Provide active learning format
 Increases small-group attention
 Encourages cooperation and
independence
 Allows strategic grouping
 Increases response rate
 Provides effective review format.
 Encourages student responses
 Reduces pupil-teacher ratio for
group instruction/review
 Facilitates enrichment
opportunities
 Offers absent students “catch up”
time
 Keeps individuals and class on
pace
 Offers time to develop missing
skills
Disadvantages
 May be job sharing, not learning
enriching
 Requires considerable planning
 Requires modeling and role-
playing skills
 Becomes easy to “typecast”
specialist with this role
 Requires considerable planning
and preparation
 Increases noise level
 Requires group and independent
work skills
 Is difficult to monitor
 Not easy to achieve equal depth of
content coverage
 Maybe difficult to coordinate
 Requires monitoring of partner
pacing
 Increases noise level.
 Encourages some teacher-student
competition.
 May be easy to select the same
low-achieving students for help
 Creates segregated learning
environments
 Is difficult to coordinate
 My single out students