# data[].attributes.body
The special education teacher will be responsible for special needs students' educational plans and advocate for their needs and required services to the general education teacher.

The general education teacher focuses on teaching the curriculum enforced by the school and/or state standards

# data[].attributes.body
Asking reflective questions and stepping back to watch what’s going on will reveal classroom dynamics not evident when you’re at the crest of delivering instruction.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Top 10 Powerful and Pro-Active Ideas for Collaboration from Teacher Leader, Lynda Mattison!

For years, Lynda has fostered collaboration among special education and general education peers. In this article she will show you how to transform the learning environment as you work together to leverage skills and talents across the special/general education line.

By Lynda Mattison, Certified Special Education Teacher, Cobb County, GA

How can you build a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with special and general education colleagues using a collaborative teaching approach? Collaborative teaching is the wave of the future! In little time, you can develop the know-how to fully enjoy being a team. And you'll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish for your students.

1. General Ed teachers may not be familiar with all of the specialized resources Special Ed teachers know about for matching practice with a student's skill level which may be far below the grade level.

2. Special Ed teachers may not be familiar with the rich activities and projects often used to apply learning on grade level.

3. Both teachers may know some techniques to face disciplinary problems. Having two sets of eyes provides more information to catch students being successful as well as to proactively "head off" problems.

4. Either teacher may make effective use of technology as a growing part of the curriculum or may not.

While general educators are well trained to use and teach students on many types of software, the special educator brings a working knowledge of a versatile realm known as assistive technology.

These tools and programs are designed to increase student access to the general curriculum and bypass pervasive challenges to individual engagement with reading, writing and math. A shared knowledge and use of these tools will increase the engagement and productivity of many students in the general education classroom, not just the disabled.

There's a lot of change going on in schools every day! The development of a few simple routine activities for students at risk is very helpful. For many children in general education, structure of assignments and content blend together easily.

Children with special needs first have to learn the structure of the assignment's directions before they can address its content. For example, with highly challenged students, the use of matching or tracing routines allows for planning independent activities. What actually is a good routine depends on a student's cognitive abilities. Although the pace may be much slower, challenged students will advance with content when the routine eliminates being challenged by the directions.

Classroom teachers know their students try harder when they feel successful. It's no big stretch to say the same for adults. Teachers are problem solvers, so most of the time we talk about our problems. Still, what really motivate us are our successes.

When we recognize success, we are making note of it. Complimenting a co-worker is hardly flattery. Think of it as taking verbal note of something that's working well. The school day goes by quickly. We need those verbal success notes to keep good energy flowing; not only for the boost in confidence, but success is generalizable. What worked in your team today can be built upon and used again, but only if you have noticed and shared out.

Schedule one regular planning session per week is minimum; even if it has to be after school. You have to do this or you will drown in lack of communication and unmet expectations.

Yes, there's never enough time. It's also true that we make time for what is important. If you make the effort and focus to believe that, yes, you want to set aside time to plan together, it will become so. If you believe there's never enough time, sorry to say you will be right!

Working together can be compared to a marriage. You just don't know what you don't know about one another.

What's important is the sharing of ideas and efforts. Job satisfaction comes in the experience. It's not one day, a week or two, nor even a semester, but the unfolding progress you make on your learning journey, with all its surprises.

Recognize that what you are going through is always a process and expect your first weeks together to be an adventure. Just as students discover new ideas through you and your ways of teaching over time, your collaborative relationship will undergo its own synthetic metamorphosis, meeting the needs of students in better ways.

Asking reflective questions and stepping back to watch what's going on will reveal classroom dynamics not evident when you're at the crest of delivering instruction.

Jot down brief specifics. These observations and examples will trigger your memory to help fine tune what's best for student learning at a later time with your teammate. It's so very hard for people to problem solve without clear specifics at hand. Clear examples keep the focus on student learning and will make communication with your partner an objective and professional exchange. Note examples of students blooming in response to learning activities will give your partner more of a boost in energy than chocolate, delicious as it is.

It's a red flag if a person comes in and sits down in a corner or remains at their desk. Why? When you are stationary, your point of observation is narrow; you're not on top of what's going on globally. No matter who is taking the lead at the moment, the other teacher can interact with students.

Organization is a life skill, resulting in internal structures that help one learn to face change. It takes a good deal of time to formulate improvements, and to empower students into their responsibility. It also saves time and forms positive habits when it becomes routine.

Generally, teachers organize their classrooms in patterns that reflect what has worked well in the past. As needs and students change, there will always be opportunities to fine tune.

Collaborate together and list your common organizational goals. Look back at these periodically. In the crush of time, organization tends to be overlooked once schooling is underway, but it's one of those things where small improvements can have widespread effects.

Ask reflective questions such as, "How might we improve our organization for ______?" or "How could we spend less time __________? These questions may reveal new connections and ways to build on existing patterns for better results.

Help colleagues view the classroom as an environment in total. How well do the children stay organized and react to a smooth flow?

Special education teachers are well trained at monitoring and supporting student needs for organization. Once student needs are identified, we readily create simple structures that cue the children with visual cues, step by step routines, and self-monitoring routines.

Children with weak executive functioning will need a consistent external structure to cue them because this is not happening internally and will not develop when they rely on always being verbally reminded.

It's a new opportunity to work as two in the classroom, which can more than double your impact on students. Sharing leadership roles, you can provide more student support as well become highly effective personally through your communication and collaboration.

Human Learning Link

For more articles like this sent to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Learn More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 10 Ideas for Collaboration | General Education and Special Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Top 10 Powerful and Pro-Active Ideas for Collaboration from Teacher Leader, Lynda Mattison! For years, Lynda has fostered collaboration among special education and general education peers. In this article she will show you how to transform the learning environment as you work together to leverage skills and talents across the special/general education line.

# data[].attributes.body
The general and special education teachers who work together must create a classroom routine as one. General education teacher are great at knowing how to work with large groups of students and providing structure, while special education teachers have an understanding in how routine prepares the brain to learn and reduces acting out. Putting both sets of skills together allows for the best possible outcome.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Barb Casey

How can we improve collaboration between general and special education teachers? What are the benefits to this work? What are the key components of implementation?

These are timely questions as districts like mine seek to push special education students into core instruction with more frequency. Some educators are hesitant to dive into this model, but solid support and intentional steps make the process easier.

I was often frustrated as a special education teacher when I was expected to use parallel curriculum to teach students who had learning disabilities. I felt as though I didn't have permission to think like a general educator, even though I knew my students would benefit. At the time, our district mandated that special education teachers use separate curriculum, which excluded us from general education professional development (PD) opportunities. This situation left me feeling isolated and disconnected from general education standards and instruction.

That all changed when our district adopted the Common Core State Standards nearly a decade ago. I remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when a 5th grade student whom I had successfully taught to read (i.e., decode) sat in tears during the Smarter Balanced Assessment exam as he struggled to compose a written response to a prompt. His despair propelled me into action: I felt compelled from that day forward to give my special education students access to the same writing instruction as their peers.

Our district is in the early stages of inclusion, with leaders working to provide special education teachers access to PD tied to general education standards. Because I will move into an elementary principal role next school year, I have a newfound responsibility to support staff to use their talents in ways that honor all our learners. I recognize that traditional models of specially designed instruction have not helped our students with learning disabilities gain skills at the same rates as their peers.

We must create time for special educators and general educators to get to know each other's strengths and dispel the mysteries that lie behind their separate doors. Each discipline has strategies and practices that improve student learning.

Lifting the Veil on Collaboration

Based on my experiences with colleagues, I see the following list as imperative to foster collaboration:

Trust: Building relational trust between teachers who share a physical classroom or responsibility for student learning is the first ingredient to a successful collaborative partnership. Our district uses the Dufour model of PLC work. Special educators are part of grade-level teams to share data and challenges. This approach creates safe space for staff to learn about each other beyond the classroom.

Vision: Any strong initiative needs a well-articulated vision that is clearly communicated to the school and community. Our district mission is "Developing Washington's Most Sought-After Graduates." Each school has its own vision statement related to this work.

Commitment to Staff Development: Inclusive schools are most successful when leaders show visible commitment to growing the skills of staff responsible for inclusive implementation. Leaders in our district spent time analyzing special education achievement data to determine the move toward inclusion. Next steps include identifying the PD both special and general education teachers need in order to ensure a sustainable inclusion model and hone teachers' skills over time. Ongoing collaboration between staff and leaders is also essential. As a new building leader, I plan to spend time in classrooms to determine which teachers need support and which teachers deserve recognition for their inclusion accomplishments.

Common Language: A common language is an essential component during implementation. When I taught in a resource room, the required math curriculum had strategies to solve story problems that were disconnected from the classroom instruction. My students grew minimally on grade-level benchmark assessments. Our schools are identifying essential standards and pre-teaching vocabulary in order to ensure all staff use the same language and terms about student achievement.

Routines: The general and special education teachers who work together must create classroom routines as one. Special educators are adept in understanding how routine prepares the brain to learn and reduces behavior concerns. General education teachers understand how to teach routines to larger groups of students to maximize instructional time. Put the two together, and you have a teaching powerhouse. Special educators and general educators should spend time together discussing student needs and their unique strategies for building upon student strengths and successes.

Learning Targets: General education teachers are masters at identifying learning targets that prepare students to advance and experts at differentiating instruction. On the other hand, special educators can identify how to break those targets into their component parts, provide necessary accommodations, and focus on student progress toward individualized goals and objectives. Our grade-level teams identify essential standards that we want all students to learn, then work together to provide the necessary scaffolds.

Remediation: Students with identified disabilities need dedicated time and specially designed instruction to close specific skills gaps. As they work, connect back to general education instruction with mnemonics, graphic organizers, and visual supports.

Technology: Though general education teachers often have many technology resources, special education teachers bring experience in assistive programs, devices, and tools. An important component of this work is normalizing the use of technology for all students, who should have access to individual devices to support communication and instruction access. For example, I have taught students to use text-to-speech and speech-to-text software on Chromebooks. When general education students take note of unfamiliar technology, explain the ways it helps other learners connect with the information.

Capitalize on Family Partnerships: As a special educator, I often taught the same students for multiple years and was able to develop deep connections with families that my general education colleagues-who had students for only one school year-were not always able to accomplish. We maximize opportunities for all students with increased partnerships and trust with families. Capitalize on those relationships in any classroom by sitting down as a team with parents and showing a vested interest from both general and special education lenses. Too often, special education focuses on deficits, pointing out to parents what their children cannot do. When we partner with general educators, the conversation shifts to what children can learn to do.

When a collaborative teaching model between special education and general education works, the benefits for our students are endless. We must act with intention and focus in order to capitalize on the skills of general and special educators. Our kids deserve nothing less.

Barb Casey is the lead behavior specialist at Walla Walla Public Schools in Walla Walla, Wash. She will transition to a role as an elementary principal in the fall.

ASCD Express, Vol. 14, No. 25. Copyright 2019 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When Special and General Educators Collaborate, Everybody Wins

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Barb Casey How can we improve collaboration between general and special education teachers? What are the benefits to this work? What are the key components of implementation? These are timely questions as districts like mine seek to push special education students into core instruction with more frequency.

# data[].attributes.headline
Communicating with all participating parties. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Communicating with all participating parties. 

# data[].attributes.body
Communication to all parties including students, teachers and parents is a crucial component in exceptional learning. It allows for all parties to be informed as well as building strong relationships between parents and teachers to the student.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The evolution of public education in America has prompted the need for collaboration between colleagues in public schools. This is especially true regarding special education and classroom teachers. For two years in a row, the Department of Education has adjusted the expectations for the amount of time special education students spend in the general education classroom. Both years, these adjustments have favored time in the general education setting versus the special education setting.

These adjustments have left some schools scrambling to form plans to change their special education model so that they are not left out of compliance. While shorter pullout groups and some co-taught periods are part of the solution, the bigger movement in the nation is to simply have more differentiation of general education material so special education students can spend more time in the general education classroom. This is not going to be an easy undertaking. Now, more than ever, collaboration between special education teachers and general education teachers needs to take place in a meaningful way. Having filled both positions during my career, I can see the challenges from both perspectives. Here are some tips I hope can help promote collaboration between these two equally important groups.

1. What Should You Be Collaborating About?
Generally speaking, when a special education teacher and a general education teacher share a student, they should collaborate on how to best meet the student's needs. This means both teachers need to provide input on progress toward IEP goals, testing accommodations, curriculum modifications, differentiation, and any extra plans the student has (health or behavioral). At every school where I have worked so far, these things were discussed between the two teachers prior to an IEP meeting. This helps expedite the IEP meetings.

2. Be Creative When Scheduling Collaboration Meeting Times
One of the biggest challenges teachers face is finding a time to collaborate that fits into everyone's busy schedule. While I am not suggesting that people should work outside their contracted hours, I do know that often collaboration is pushed to the side during busy times of the year. Collaboration is vital to the success of special education students and should always be a priority for teachers. If planning times don't match up, both teachers should sit down together and find a weekly time that works.

3. Understand Your Colleagues' Perspectives
Points of view regarding students' needs and how to meet these needs can be drastically different from teacher to teacher. Several influences help form a teacher's beliefs, such as personal experiences, the college attended, generational gaps, and knowledge or lack of knowledge about special education. When teachers have a difference of opinion regarding special education services, often being aware of the root of a colleague's educational beliefs can help bridge the gap.

4. Be Comfortable Stepping Outside of Your Role
Generally speaking, the general education teacher is considered the content expert and the special education teacher is considered an expert on adapting material to meet the needs of special education students. When collaborating, colleagues should be comfortable with a free-flowing exchange of ideas. This may mean that colleagues make suggestions that cross over into another teacher's area of expertise.

5. Consider Co-Teaching
With the changing landscape of least restrictive environments (LRE), many schools are adding classes that are co-taught by a special education teacher and a general education teacher. Like having your cake and eating it, too, this allows a student to receive special education services and remain in the general education setting. This model is sometimes met with resistance by teachers who are used to maintaining a classroom independently. As always, give students' needs the most consideration when making these decisions. If a student is two or more grade levels behind his or her same-age peers, a co-taught classroom likely would not best meet the student's needs.

6. Attend Professional Development Together
School districts take many different approaches in providing professional development to their staff members. If you work in a school district where staff members have a say in selecting professional development events, consider doing this with your collaboration partner. Choose a topic with the student(s) you share in mind. If a special education teacher provides services to an entire grade level, he or she might consider facilitating the professional development selections with all the teachers in the grade.

7. Design the Collaboration Time to Meet Your Needs
All people have needs that will help them be successful in a task or project. Personally, I have always kept my collaboration with colleagues relaxed and informal. I have never experienced a problem with this approach. However, some people need a higher level of organization. If you work with a colleague who wants to make an agenda for your collaboration meetings or wants to keep minutes of what is discussed, I suggest being open to letting these things happen. Collaboration meetings should be designed to help the participants meet the needs of students, so the format of how collaboration takes place ought to be flexible.

8. Document Dates and Times of Collaboration
This is a must for special education teachers. Some IEPs specify a number of collaboration minutes per month or grade quarter that must take place between the two teachers. If a parent issue ever arises relating to collaboration (IEPs refer to it as "consultation"), the special education teacher is going to need to produce documentation showing that collaboration took place.

9. There Is No Easy Way to Say This, But . . .
If you are in a position where you know a colleague is doing something incorrectly relating to the services of a student, you need to let him or her know about it. (I have experienced this with issues related to test accommodations and modified homework.) IEPs are similar to contracts, and they need to be followed or changed. There is no easy way to tell colleagues that they are making a mistake, but I promise it is easier than explaining being out of compliance to a parent. It is my belief that it's best to go to your colleague with these issues before you go to your principal. When you approach a colleague about an IEP that is being executed incorrectly, be as nonconfrontational as possible. Also, expect the person to get defensive. I have yet to meet someone who likes to hear about mistakes he or she has made. This is not an easy task, but it is part of being a special education teacher.

Andrew Hawk has worked in public education for fourteen years, starting as a teaching assistant in a special education classroom. He has taught first, second, and fifth grade as a classroom teacher, and for the past three years, has worked as a resource room teacher, providing services for fourth and fifth graders. Working as a special education teacher has given him the opportunity to work with a variety of age groups and exceptionalities. In 2011, he earned his master's degree in special education from Western Governor's University. When Andrew is not preparing for school, he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.

© 2016 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Tips to Help Special Education Teachers and Classroom Teachers Collaborate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Andrew Hawk The evolution of public education in America has prompted the need for collaboration between colleagues in public schools. This is especially true regarding special education and classroom teachers. For two years in a row, the Department of Education has adjusted the expectations for the amount of time special education students spend in...

# data[].attributes.body
Planning is the most important thing for teachers. Securing one day each week to sit down with the co-teacher and plan out how to best teach to reach the needs of the students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
School teams spend precious time creating the foundations of inclusive programs for students with disabilities. Careful thought goes into scheduling co-taught classes, creating balanced classroom rosters, training co-teaching partners, developing collaborative relationships, and providing appropriate supports for students with disabilities (Walther-Thomas, Korinek, McLaughlin, & Williams, 2000).

However, even with well-planned inclusive services, general education teachers and co-teaching teams often struggle with how to effectively teach students with disabilities in general education classrooms. This article provides tips for inclusive practices that will assist general education teachers in meeting the educational needs of their students with disabilities.

Tips for Planning

Collaborate with special education teachers, related service providers, and paraprofessionals on a regular basis.

1. Interactive Teaching - Teachers alternate roles of presenting, reviewing, and monitoring instruction.

2. Alternative Teaching - One person teaches, reteaches, or enriches a concept for a small group, while the other monitors or teaches the remaining students.

3. Parallel Teaching - Students are divided into mixed-ability groups, and each co-teaching partner teaches the same material to one of the groups.

4. Station Teaching - Small groups of students rotate to various stations for instruction, review, and/or practice.

(Walther-Thomas et al., 2000)

Tips for Classroom Management

Create a structured classroom. This may include designating separate areas for group and individual work and centers for reading or art, as well as creating a daily class schedule.

Provide opportunities for purposeful movement.

Develop classroom cues for settling down to work, getting out materials, and quieting down.

Plan for transition times (between subjects or tasks, before and after lunch, changing classes).

Help students organize their materials by using checklists, folders, and containers to keep materials organized in desks.

(Adapted from Bender, 2002)

Tips for Structuring Lessons

Differentiate instruction by using flexible grouping, providing activities that appeal to various learning-style preferences, giving students choices, and creating alternative activities and assessments (Tomlinson, 2001).

Think "universal design" when planning instruction. "The central premise of Universal Design for Learning is that a curriculum should include alternatives to make it accessible and appropriate for individuals with different backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and disabilities in widely varied learning contexts" (CAST, 2004, 3). Incorporate three qualities of universal design when planning instruction:

1. Multiple means of representing content (visual and oral strategies),

2. Multiple means of students' expression of content (writing, illustrating, speaking), and

3. Flexible means of engagement as students learn (videos, software, and role-playing).

For more information on universal design, access the website of the Center for Applied Special Technology, http://www.cast.org/udl.

Provide opportunities for students to work in small groups and in pairs. If cooperative learning strategies are used, five conditions must be present: (a) The task must be authentic, worthwhile, and appropriate for students working in groups; (b) Small-group learning must be the goal; (c) Cooperative behavior should be taught to and used by students; (d) Group work should be structured so that students depend on one another to complete a task successfully; (e) Students should be held individually accountable (Putnam, 1998).

Use the instructional sequence of "I do" (teacher model), "We do" (group practice), and "You do" (individual practice). Provide supports or scaffolds to students as they are learning new material and withdraw them when they are able to perform the task on their own (Bender, 2002).

Employ active learning strategies such as "think, pair, share" to promote recall and understanding of new learning. This strategy allows students to reflect individually on a question, pair up with a partner to share and compare answers, and finally give the best answer (Kagan, 1994). For more active learning strategies, download the Considerations Packet, Techniques for Active Learning. This packet is available from the College of William and Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center at www.wm.edu/ttac/packets/consideration.html.

Teach learning strategies along with content material. Strategy instruction may be defined simply as instruction in how to learn and perform (Lenz, Deshler, & Kissam, 2004). "Learning strategies help students learn and perform by providing them with a specific set of steps for: (a) approaching new and difficult tasks, (b) guiding thoughts and actions, (c) completing tasks in a timely and successful manner, and (d) thinking strategically (Lenz et al., 2004, p. 261). Learning strategies may include organizing materials, memorizing information, taking notes, reading text, and taking tests.

To ensure success for students with disabilities in general education classrooms, teachers must plan collaboratively, create structured classrooms with clear rules and expectations, and teach content in meaningful and memorable ways.

References

Bender, W. N. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities: Best practices for general and special educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

CAST. Summary of universal design for learning concepts. Retrieved September 20, 2004, from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.cfm?i=7

Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan.

Lenz, B. K., Deshler, D. D., & Kissam, B. R. (2004). Teaching content to all: Evidence-based inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Putnam, J. W. (1998). The process of cooperative learning. In J. W. Putnam (Ed.), Cooperative learning and strategies for inclusion: Celebrating diversity in the classroom (pp. 17-47). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Walther-Thomas, C., Korinek, L., McLaughlin, V. L., & Williams, B. (2000). Collaboration for inclusive education: Developing successful programs. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Date: November/December 2004

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Effective Teaching Practices for Students in Inclusive Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
School teams spend precious time creating the foundations of inclusive programs for students with disabilities. Careful thought goes into scheduling co-taught classes, creating balanced classroom rosters, training co-teaching partners, developing collaborative relationships, and providing appropriate supports for students with disabilities (Walther-Thomas, Korinek, McLaughlin, & Williams, 2000).

# data[].attributes.body
Have both teachers provide input on progress toward IEP goals and any extra plans (health or behavioral).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The evolution of public education in America has prompted the need for collaboration between colleagues in public schools. This is especially true regarding special education and classroom teachers. For two years in a row, the Department of Education has adjusted the expectations for the amount of time special education students spend in the general education classroom. Both years, these adjustments have favored time in the general education setting versus the special education setting.

These adjustments have left some schools scrambling to form plans to change their special education model so that they are not left out of compliance. While shorter pullout groups and some co-taught periods are part of the solution, the bigger movement in the nation is to simply have more differentiation of general education material so special education students can spend more time in the general education classroom. This is not going to be an easy undertaking. Now, more than ever, collaboration between special education teachers and general education teachers needs to take place in a meaningful way. Having filled both positions during my career, I can see the challenges from both perspectives. Here are some tips I hope can help promote collaboration between these two equally important groups.

1. What Should You Be Collaborating About?
Generally speaking, when a special education teacher and a general education teacher share a student, they should collaborate on how to best meet the student's needs. This means both teachers need to provide input on progress toward IEP goals, testing accommodations, curriculum modifications, differentiation, and any extra plans the student has (health or behavioral). At every school where I have worked so far, these things were discussed between the two teachers prior to an IEP meeting. This helps expedite the IEP meetings.

2. Be Creative When Scheduling Collaboration Meeting Times
One of the biggest challenges teachers face is finding a time to collaborate that fits into everyone's busy schedule. While I am not suggesting that people should work outside their contracted hours, I do know that often collaboration is pushed to the side during busy times of the year. Collaboration is vital to the success of special education students and should always be a priority for teachers. If planning times don't match up, both teachers should sit down together and find a weekly time that works.

3. Understand Your Colleagues' Perspectives
Points of view regarding students' needs and how to meet these needs can be drastically different from teacher to teacher. Several influences help form a teacher's beliefs, such as personal experiences, the college attended, generational gaps, and knowledge or lack of knowledge about special education. When teachers have a difference of opinion regarding special education services, often being aware of the root of a colleague's educational beliefs can help bridge the gap.

4. Be Comfortable Stepping Outside of Your Role
Generally speaking, the general education teacher is considered the content expert and the special education teacher is considered an expert on adapting material to meet the needs of special education students. When collaborating, colleagues should be comfortable with a free-flowing exchange of ideas. This may mean that colleagues make suggestions that cross over into another teacher's area of expertise.

5. Consider Co-Teaching
With the changing landscape of least restrictive environments (LRE), many schools are adding classes that are co-taught by a special education teacher and a general education teacher. Like having your cake and eating it, too, this allows a student to receive special education services and remain in the general education setting. This model is sometimes met with resistance by teachers who are used to maintaining a classroom independently. As always, give students' needs the most consideration when making these decisions. If a student is two or more grade levels behind his or her same-age peers, a co-taught classroom likely would not best meet the student's needs.

6. Attend Professional Development Together
School districts take many different approaches in providing professional development to their staff members. If you work in a school district where staff members have a say in selecting professional development events, consider doing this with your collaboration partner. Choose a topic with the student(s) you share in mind. If a special education teacher provides services to an entire grade level, he or she might consider facilitating the professional development selections with all the teachers in the grade.

7. Design the Collaboration Time to Meet Your Needs
All people have needs that will help them be successful in a task or project. Personally, I have always kept my collaboration with colleagues relaxed and informal. I have never experienced a problem with this approach. However, some people need a higher level of organization. If you work with a colleague who wants to make an agenda for your collaboration meetings or wants to keep minutes of what is discussed, I suggest being open to letting these things happen. Collaboration meetings should be designed to help the participants meet the needs of students, so the format of how collaboration takes place ought to be flexible.

8. Document Dates and Times of Collaboration
This is a must for special education teachers. Some IEPs specify a number of collaboration minutes per month or grade quarter that must take place between the two teachers. If a parent issue ever arises relating to collaboration (IEPs refer to it as "consultation"), the special education teacher is going to need to produce documentation showing that collaboration took place.

9. There Is No Easy Way to Say This, But . . .
If you are in a position where you know a colleague is doing something incorrectly relating to the services of a student, you need to let him or her know about it. (I have experienced this with issues related to test accommodations and modified homework.) IEPs are similar to contracts, and they need to be followed or changed. There is no easy way to tell colleagues that they are making a mistake, but I promise it is easier than explaining being out of compliance to a parent. It is my belief that it's best to go to your colleague with these issues before you go to your principal. When you approach a colleague about an IEP that is being executed incorrectly, be as nonconfrontational as possible. Also, expect the person to get defensive. I have yet to meet someone who likes to hear about mistakes he or she has made. This is not an easy task, but it is part of being a special education teacher.

Andrew Hawk has worked in public education for fourteen years, starting as a teaching assistant in a special education classroom. He has taught first, second, and fifth grade as a classroom teacher, and for the past three years, has worked as a resource room teacher, providing services for fourth and fifth graders. Working as a special education teacher has given him the opportunity to work with a variety of age groups and exceptionalities. In 2011, he earned his master's degree in special education from Western Governor's University. When Andrew is not preparing for school, he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.

© 2016 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Tips to Help Special Education Teachers and Classroom Teachers Collaborate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Andrew Hawk The evolution of public education in America has prompted the need for collaboration between colleagues in public schools. This is especially true regarding special education and classroom teachers. For two years in a row, the Department of Education has adjusted the expectations for the amount of time special education students spend in...

# data[].attributes.body
1. How would asking reflective questions better reveal classroom dynamics between students and teachers?
2. Why is it so important to communicate and involve all parties?
3. What are the benefits of general education teachers and sped teachers working together to create a classroom routine as one?
4. What are the types of co-teaching methods that teachers can rotate through as to share the work load and enrich the experience?
5. According to the video, co-teaching is where two licensed educators collaborate with ________ responsibility for the instructional process in the classroom.