Abstract
Urban schools, noted for their diverse student populations and variety of instructional resources and personnel, often are challenged in providing a coherent and differentiated instructional program for the wide array of learners served. In this article, we describe coteaching instructional models to support ELL students in elementary general education classrooms. ELL and general education teachers collaborated in planning, teaching, and reflecting on their instruction. Despite an expedited timeline for implementation and decreased personnel resources in the 2nd year of the study, collaborative teaching relationships were productive and rewarding. Of greatest importance, ELL student achievement increased substantially. Implications for practice include building the knowledge that supports collaboration, strategically allocating instructional personnel, and providing ongoing opportunities for collaborative learning and development.
Notes
1This relatively low identification rate was due to attempts at the primary level to not formally identify children as “special education,” even though they received special services.
* = Implementation year for inclusive and collaborative instructional models
Δ = Change score determined by mean of the individual differences
* = Implementation year for inclusive and collaborative instructional models
Δ = Change score determined by mean of the individual differences
1n = 41; four students in the cohort did not take the Grade 1 reading test
2n = 33; three students in the cohort who received FRL did not take the Grade 1 reading test
3n = 24; one ELL student in the cohort did not take the Grade 1 reading test