Co-Teaching as a Model of Student Teaching: Common Trends and Levels of Student Engagement

1. Co-Teaching as a Model of Student Teaching: Common Trends and Levels of Student Engagement

2. Presentation Outcomes -- • Describe common trends of the co-teaching model of student teaching from the Teacher Candidate and Cooperating Teacher perspective; • Explain the levels of student engagement in co-taught and traditional student teaching classrooms; • Determine initial impact of the co-teaching model of student teaching on pre-teachers, teachers, K-12 classrooms, and students.

3. Co-Teaching – General Definition An effective, evidence-based instructional strategy in which two or more caring professionals share responsibility for a group of students and work collaboratively to add instructional value to enhance their efforts – Chapman & Hart Hyatt (2011)

4. Co-Teaching – MSU Student Teaching Structure A Cooperating Teacher + an MSU Teacher Candidate are the two caring professionals who share responsibility They work collaboratively, add instructional value, and work to enhance learning for diverse groups of students

5. Co-teachers…. • Jointly decide how to best offer instruction – engage in substantive co-planning. • Consider The Adults, The Students, & The Curriculum Content as they co-plan. • Use a range of approaches/models. • Collaborate for best results. • Have strong administrative support. • Discuss logistical issues to improve teaching and learning.

6. Program Why are we using the Co-teaching Model?

7. MSU Vision and Rationale for Co-teaching • We have moved from a traditional model of minimal time in observation and direct planning/instruction – “Sink or Swim” approach • Innovative model is an apprenticeship where extended time is spent co-planning/co-teaching with your partner • The emphasis is on providing greater opportunities for enhanced K-12 student learning and bridging the achievement gap

8. Research and Experiential Support Improve teacher to K-12 student ratio Increase instructional options  student achievement Strengthen teacher professional development Encourage quality MSU student mentoring

9. So – what has happened? • Cooperating Teacher & MSU Teacher Candidate trainings each semester since Jan. 2010 • TOSA & university supervisor observations • Surveys, co-teaching logs, focus group interviews = initial research data

10. MSU Co-teaching ResearchJan. 2010 – May 2011 • Research themes across three semesters – • Value – the value of working in a co-teaching model & what it provides for all students increases over time for Cooperating Teachers & Teacher Candidates. The comfort level of TCs working with others in the classroom increases greatly across time. • Planning – joint planning time is necessary for the co-teaching partnership to teach well together

11. MSU Co-teaching ResearchJan. 2010 – May 2011 • Communication – having time to communicate well as co-teaching partners on all aspects of planning & teaching is important • Teaming – Cooperating Teachers and Teacher Candidates engage in more varied roles together as they develop as a team

12. Purpose of the Pilot Study - • To examine the academic engagement of students in secondary schools who are in “co-teaching” student teaching settings compared to more “traditional” student teaching classrooms • Academic engagement has been linked to academic achievement and is therefore an important factor to consider in assessing the teaching environment for students. • Dr. Renata Ticha, Jill Brink and Susan Devro

13. Assessment - • Traditional assessments - measures of student performance and ability - are considered when evaluating a student’s progress in an educational program. • An assumption of ecobehavioral assessment suggest a student’s performance is at least partially determined by the nature and type of interactions the student has with the environment and people in the classroom

14. EBASS - • EcoBehavioralAssessment System Software (EBASS) is a computer software package that may be used to assess environment-behavior interactions as well as the ecological contexts in which student behaviors occur: It can be used to measure engagement - (Greenwood, Carta, Kamps, Terry & Delquadri, 1994).

15. EBASS, continued… • It facilitates the recording of variables related to thirteen factors within the three overall categories of student behaviors, teacher behaviors, and classroom ecology. • Data are collected PDA using a momentary time sampling procedure.

16. Research Questions - • What are the ecological events (instructional grouping, physical arrangement, task) that describe the classrooms observed in this study? • What teacher behaviors are most typical in the classrooms? • To what extent do the behaviors of the target students represent the following categories: academic, task management, or competing responses?

17. Research Questions - • Are there differences in teacher behaviors or student responses when comparing students in “co-teaching” student teaching settings compared to more “traditional” student teaching classrooms?

18. Participants - • Cooperating teachers and teacher candidates in 6 classrooms (three “co-teaching” and three “traditional”student teaching classrooms) • There were 14 students who participated in both Time 1 and Time 2 data collection. • Students ranged from 7th to 12th grade • MAZE

19. Training and Reliability - • Graduate students conducted the classroom observations. • They participated in an EBASS training class and studied the EBASS Practitioner’s Manual and computerized tutorial (Greenwood et al, 1994). • Inter-observer agreement was calculated using the MS-CISSAR Calibration video. • Inter-rater reliability with the expertly coded video was achieved at .90

20. Data Collection - • Each student observation lasted 20 minutes with two observation sessions taking place during one class period, per observer. • Cooperating teacher/teacher candidate observations lasted the duration of 40 minutes.

21. Teacher Position

22. Means for Teacher Behavior in Exemplar Classrooms -

23. Blue = Traditional Green = Co-Teaching

24. Summary of Pilot Study - • Worth pursuing… • Need larger sample in similar content areas • Gather data on teacher location • Revise EBASS system to better reflect discussion/lecture • Add achievement measure • Add co-teaching (or teacher role) checklist

25. Next Steps - • Add K-12 achievement measures to co-teaching models/methods • Add co-teaching (or teacher role) checklist to teacher position information in classroom observations