Observation and Coaching As a Professional Learning Model To Support the Implementation of Co-Teaching
type: CreativeWork
description: Purpose This qualitative study provides a description of a professional learning model using observation and coaching for teachers who participated in training regarding co-teaching to support the implementation of co-teaching. Method The study involved participants who were general and special educators from grades K-12 across urban, rural, and suburban school districts in Connecticut. The study included 329 observations of 136 co-teaching teams from 44 schools in 14 districts over the course of 14 years. Classroom observations of 15-20 minutes were initiated in schools with co-teachers in their natural settings using an open-ended observation protocol recorded on the Connecticut Co-Teaching Technical Assistance Visit Observation Tool. Each co-teaching team was observed at least twice. Observations were transcribed and coded to construct thematic matrices. Some of the teams also used an innovation configuration map to self-evaluate their progress in implementing co-teaching. An iterative, recursive process of sorting, categorizing, and linking data into narratives was used to make meaning and provide a rich description of co-teaching. Results A qualitative study design was used to obtain a deeper understanding of co-teaching. The narratives share how the co-teachers in the study experienced the development of parity and identified the necessary ingredients to use each of the six co-teaching approaches. The data came from notes by coaches during observation and coaching and the results of the self-evaluations using the innovation configuration map. Four themes emerged from the data in response to the first research question. They are: (a) the importance of the development of parity; (b) a wide range of co-teaching approaches were identified in the initial observations; (c) during the second observation, coaches identified usage of more co-teaching approaches that allowed for more intensive instruction; and (d) influence of planning time on the use of co-teaching app…
abstract: Purpose This qualitative study provides a description of a professional learning model using observation and coaching for teachers who participated in training regarding co-teaching to support the implementation of co-teaching. Method The study involved participants who were general and special educators from grades K-12 across urban, rural, and suburban school districts in Connecticut. The study included 329 observations of 136 co-teaching teams from 44 schools in 14 districts over the course of 14 years. Classroom observations of 15-20 minutes were initiated in schools with co-teachers in their natural settings using an open-ended observation protocol recorded on the Connecticut Co-Teaching Technical Assistance Visit Observation Tool. Each co-teaching team was observed at least twice. Observations were transcribed and coded to construct thematic matrices. Some of the teams also used an innovation configuration map to self-evaluate their progress in implementing co-teaching. An iterative, recursive process of sorting, categorizing, and linking data into narratives was used to make meaning and provide a rich description of co-teaching. Results A qualitative study design was used to obtain a deeper understanding of co-teaching. The narratives share how the co-teachers in the study experienced the development of parity and identified the necessary ingredients to use each of the six co-teaching approaches. The data came from notes by coaches during observation and coaching and the results of the self-evaluations using the innovation configuration map. Four themes emerged from the data in response to the first research question. They are: (a) the importance of the development of parity; (b) a wide range of co-teaching approaches were identified in the initial observations; (c) during the second observation, coaches identified usage of more co-teaching approaches that allowed for more intensive instruction; and (d) influence of planning time on the use of co-teaching app…
author: Henley, Mary Alice
keywords: Co-Teaching, Observation, Coaching, Learning Model, Elementary Education and Teaching, Secondary Education and Teaching
date published: 2016-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:53:14Z
provider: Andrews University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Andrews University