Meghan N. Taylor, Ed. D.

Abstract

This qualitative study explored experiences of secondary general education and special education teachers in an inclusive classroom in a New Jersey high school. This included looking at the roles co-teachers assume in an inclusive classroom, their perceptions regarding the impact of co-teaching on the learning of all students in inclusive classrooms, how administrators' understandings of co-teaching differ from the teachers' and what roles they assume to make co-teaching successful in their district. The study focused on high school teachers who worked in a co-taught setting. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to explore both teachers' and administrators' perspectives. Responses from the questionnaires and interviews were coded and input into Wordle. "Word clouds" were generated by Wordle based on the responses of the participants. The more frequently the participant used a word or phrase, the larger the word appeared in the word cloud. Each code was organized into primary codes, which were then broken down into sub-codes. The sub-codes revealed the underlining assumptions in the interviews. Each interview was viewed as a single-case analysis to summarize each participant's experiences and to pull basic patterns and themes. Then a cross-case analysis was done to construct a conceptual framework that revealed the primary themes used in the results of this study. Primary themes and sub-themes emerged from the findings. The themes revealed offered insight into the experiences of secondary teachers in co-taught classrooms in a New Jersey high school.