| The purpose of this case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of the feasibility of employing the five models of co-teaching (Friend & Cook, 1995) through the co-teachers' experience and how this affected both the relationship between co-teachers and student outcomes. This research addressed a literature gap not previously scrutinized regarding the feasibility of implementing the five co-teaching models with the specific design of having the aforementioned roles distinguished between co-teachers. The results of the study confirm the previous research that found the need for co-teachers to have common planning time, parity, comparable personalities, and/or philosophies and identified roles and responsibilities. The literature suggested that if the previous elements were not in place for co-teachers then it would be likely that the special education teacher would have a submissive role in the co-teaching approach. The results of this case study indicate that the overall co-teaching experience was perceived as positive for both special education and general education teachers and students at Smith Middle School. The results of the study suggested that the focus on skills and strategies was a good starting point for co-teachers. The identified roles gave a focus for the co-teachers to work from rather than employing the various models without any direction. This helped translate into the special education teacher gaining credibility with the general educator co-teacher. |
