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The Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative was created in response to requests from teachers, administrators, and other school personnel. Through co-teaching, special education and general education teachers work together to provide evidence-based instructional practices that meet the needs of all students. True co-teaching involves teamwork throughout the entire instructional process. This level of collaboration requires a substantial support system including ongoing professional development and coaching to build capacity and support sustainability.

The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) operates the co-teaching initiative through a five-year (2012-17) SPDG-funded partnership with the Kansas Technical Assistance Support Network (TASN). In addition to coordinating co-teaching trainings and in-district coaching, TASN staff coordinate the training of a TASN team of recognized co-teaching professional development providers. Dr. Richard Villa, a national expert on co-teaching and evidence-

based effective instructional practices to support students in the least restrictive environment, serves as a professional development provider. He collaborates with TASN staff coordinated by Shonda Anderson to build statewide training capacity within the TASN team. Through regional trainings and ongoing coaching, it is expected that educators in districts across all regions of the state will be implementing evidence-based instructional practices within co-taught classrooms by 2017.

During the 2014-15 school year, co-teaching professional development addressed a variety of topics, including an overview of the four co-teaching approaches, strategies for coaching co-teachers to ensure continuous improvement, strategies for providing administrative support, strategies to include paraeducators as co-teachers, and instructional practices such as differentiated instruction and cooperative learning structures. After receiving initial training in the model, teams received follow-up support through in-district classroom observations and coaching.

Project Description

89.5% of surveyed co-teachers believe that co-teaching is an effective way to provide services to students with disabilities !

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Project Description

Co-teachers’ instructional practices were observed in the classroom, assessed using an online observation tool, and teams were coached according to their specific strengths and needs.

This year, the state gained two state-level trainers who are prepared to deliver the co-teaching training and coaching experience to new cohorts across the

state. The 2014-15 school year also saw six new regional trainers join the initiative. Throughout the year, these new trainers observed multiple trainings, observed coaching sessions, and planned and presented the co-teaching initial training. These trainers will continue to be active throughout the remainder of the project.

In order to ensure sustainability for the initiative, local coaches are trained to use the online observation tool and coaching protocol. These local coaches continue the observation process across multiple years with support from trained TASN providers. Using the A Guide to Co-Teaching professional development kit, these local coaches also have the capacity to train new co-teaching teams in their district. It is anticipated that by 2017, the Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative will operate at full capacity with recognized TASN co-teaching trainers and trained local coaches across the state.

During each year of the grant, initial training and coaching is provided to qualifying districts in a different region of the state. Throughout this document, participating districts will be categorized as members of either the 2012-13, 2013-14, or 2014-15 cohort according to the year they began participating in the initiative. For the 2012-13 school year, the northeast region of the state served as the pilot for co-teaching professional development efforts. Teams from 14 districts participated during the pilot year. Five of these districts are still active in the Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative. During the 2013-14 school year, teams from an additional nine districts in northwest and southwest Kansas participated in co-teaching professional development activities. Five of these districts are still

active in the initiative. During the 2014-15 school year, eight new districts in the south central region of the state began participation; three of these teams had attended some training during the 2013-14 school year in order to get a feel for the co-teaching initiative process.

The teachers who have been together for multiple years say that they won’t go back to teaching on their own if they have a choice.

““District Coach

The training had lots of examples that helped my co-teacher and me with our planning for how to include all approaches in our instruction to best meet the students’ needs.

““Training Attendee

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Project Description

The SPDG evaluation team collects data on aspects of the co-teaching training process. The use of adult learning principles is assessed using the High-Quality Professional Development Checklist, and pre/post-tests gauge knowledge gain. Observation and coaching data are collected through the online observation tool and analyzed to show whether teams are improving in implementation. Co-teaching teams also reflect on their implementation and the quality of the coaching following each observation. Additionally, each spring, an online survey assesses teachers’ implementation, their attitudes about co-teaching, and their perceptions of administrative support. District-level reports are developed to support the leadership teams in continually using data to improve implementation.

I was provided with excellent feedback that provided me with clear directions to improve our co-teaching instruction.

““Training Attendee

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Project Evaluation

The Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative produces a number of outcomes ranging from short- to long-term, as described in the logic model. Short-term outcomes impact teachers’ knowledge base, satisfaction, and implementation. Intermediate outcomes reflect the project’s classroom-level impact, while long-term student and implementation outcomes provide encompassing benefits at the school, district, and state levels. As shown in the graph to the right, returning districts in the 2012-13 cohort have improved their inclusion of students with IEPs in the general education classroom (State Performance Plan Indicator 5A). The graph also shows baseline inclusion data for districts in the 2013-14 cohort.

Short-term: (Knowledge)

Increased

knowledge of effective

co-teaching approaches

Increased

knowledge of evidence-based

instructional practices

Increased

knowledge of coaching and observation

practices

Satisfaction with co-teaching

Fidelity to

co-teaching professional

development plan

Long-term: (Student Outcomes)

Increased student

engagement

Increased student achievement

Increased family

awareness of co-teaching

Improved SPP Indicator 5 & 6

outcomes (least restrictive

environment)

Long-term: (Sustained

Implementation)

District capacity to sustain

co-teaching practices

Performance

on SPP Indicator 5 & 6

(least restrictive environment)

Intra-school collaboration

(continued and new partners)

Effective

co-teaching practices

Evidence-based

instructional practices

Intermediate: (Skills &

Implementation)

Increased use of effective co-teaching

practices

Increased use of evidence-based

instructional practices

Effective district level co-teaching

coaching

Outcomes

72.0%72.7%

69.8%

65%

66%

67%

68%

69%

70%

71%

72%

73%

74%

75%

2012-13 data 2013-14 data

SPP APR Indicator 5A Inclusion DataPercent of Students with IEPs who are in the Regular Classroom

more than 79% of the Day

2012-13 cohort 2013-14 cohort

Logic Model

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Trainings

A total of 69 trainings have been provided through the Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative between August 2012 and June 2015. These workshops covered the following topics:

For the initial trainings, each participating district sent a team consisting of a building administrator, a district coach, general education teachers, and special education teachers. The team approach ensured that teachers, administrators, and coaches developed a shared understanding of effective co-teaching practices and the supports necessary to sustain these practices.

Pre- and post-tests were administered at four of the co-teaching core trainings during the 2014-15 school year. The graph below displays overall averages of pre/post scores across the trainings. On average, participants scored just 64% correct on the pre-tests, but their average score rose to 93% on the post-test, a gain of 29%. Each team was provided with copies of A Guide to Co-Teaching to provide them with a physical resource for co-teaching practices and materials.

When surveyed over what was most beneficial about the co-teaching trainings, 118 participants responded to this open-ended question, and 23% made comments pertaining to learning about the four co-teaching approaches or models. Collaboration with other co-teachers and time to plan/work together was identified as beneficial by 23% of respondents, and the opportunity to see examples of actual co-teaching, whether through video or modeling by the experts/presenters, was reported to be beneficial by 22% of the respondents. Ideas, suggestions, and instructional strategies were mentioned by 17%, and general information regarding gaining an understanding of co-teaching (what it is and how to do it) was also mentioned by 12% of respondents.

 Training TopicNumber of Trainings

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015

Co-Teaching Overview & Team Training 12 5 8

Co-Teaching with Paraeducators 2 2 1

Co-Teaching Coaches’ Training/Webinar 2 6 10

Co-Teaching Sustainability Training 2 2 1

Differentiated Instruction & Universal Design for Learning 3 4 1

Cooperative Structures and Effective Instruction 2 1 1

Content Enhancement 2 1 0

Increasing Student Motivation and Engagement 0 1 0

TOTAL 25 22 22

64.3%

93.2%

28.9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Pre Post Difference

Overall Pre/Post Results for 2014-15 Trainings

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New Kansas Co-Teaching Trainers

Shonda Anderson is the Project Coordinator for the Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative. She works collaboratively with the KSDE TASN coordination team in providing training, technical assistance, and on-site support to schools and districts involved in improvement efforts of the Kansas State Special Education Performance Plan. Most of Shonda’s experience has been as special education teacher and at-risk interventionist in Kansas and Iowa. She has taught in elementary, middle school, high school, and alternative settings. Shonda’s interest areas include implementation of evidence-based strategies, integration of academic and behavior interventions within the Kansas Multi-Tier System of Support framework, transition education for secondary students with disabilities, and interagency

collaboration for effective systems change. Shonda earned her BS in Elementary Education from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She earned her MS Ed in Special Education – Learning Disabilities from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. Shonda enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons.

Chris Cooper has worked as a teacher, coach, building administrator, and district-level administrator for the past 23 years. Currently, he is the assistant superintendent in Abilene Public Schools. In the classroom, Chris worked with 5th through 12th grade band and vocal students. As a building administrator, he has K-8 experience, with the bulk being at an elementary school where he served as principal for fourteen years. Chris has worked with schools across the state as a visiting team chair in the school improvement process through the state system, the North Central Accreditation system, and as a technology integration trainer. He has also served KSDE as a technology mentor for fellow administrators through the Kansas Academy for Leadership in Technology. Presenting at various regional, state, and national conferences on a wide range of topics including technology integration, scheduling, utilizing hand held devices, effective instruction, and co-teaching rounds out his educational expertise. In his spare time, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife and four kids, living in the country, and running triathlons. His community involvement includes serving as a praise band leader, recreation coach, and as a board member for local and state health and wellness organizations.

During the 2014-15 school year, Shonda Anderson and Chris Cooper met the criteria to become state-level trainers. In order to achieve this trainer status, candidates must attend the core co-teaching training events, shadow two in-district coaching sessions, deliver the initial co-teaching training twice as a co-trainer and twice as a solo trainer, meet training content mastery criteria, meet high-quality professional development criteria, provide in-district coaching sessions, and meet coaching mastery criteria. Chris and Shonda will continue to provide training and coaching to new and existing teams across the state in future years of the project.

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New Kansas Co-Teaching Trainers

Cynthia Lindenmeyer has worked in education for thirty-three years. She has experience as a paraeducator, teacher, and instructional coach. Her responsibilities have evolved over the years and have given her the opportunity to provide instructional support and professional learning opportunities to paraeducators, general educators and special educators in order to encourage student success in all settings. She acts as Co-Chair of the Professional Learning Council for Sedgwick County Area Educational Service Interlocal Cooperative (SCAESIC) and coordinates professional learning opportunities for the new staff of SCAESIC as well as the mentoring program. She is a Co-Coordinator of Creating Classroom Communities and is also a Certified Strategic Instruction Model Trainer through KU Center for Research and Learning.

In addition to the two new state-level trainers, the project also gained six new regional trainers. In order to become a regional trainer, candidates must attend each of the core co-teaching training events, attend the trainers’ mastery training, deliver the initial co-teaching training as a co-trainer, meet training content mastery criteria, meet high-quality professional development criteria, and participate in the annual trainer update. These six new trainers will provide initial co-teaching trainings throughout the state during the upcoming years of the project.

Robi Alstrom is an educational consultant and literacy specialist at the Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas (ESSDACK) in Hutchinson, Kansas. With a background teaching general education, at-risk intervention, and special education, Robi has experience working with students at all levels of academic achievement, so she understands the needs and struggles that students face as well as the challenges teachers have in providing quality instruction for such a vast array of students. Although she is well versed in many aspects of instruction, her true passion is helping students who struggle with literacy become proficient readers.

Monica Duncan has worked at the elementary, middle and high school levels as a general education teacher, special education teacher, and co-teacher. Her passion is working with students with special needs. Her role has advanced to special education administration, and for the past four years, she worked as the special education coordinator in Emporia. Currently, she is the special education coordinator in Madison and Hamilton. She provides support to general education and special education teachers, paraeducators, and administrators to meet all students’ needs.

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New Kansas Co-Teaching Trainers

Lisa Lajoie-Smith has been in education for 25 years. She works for the Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative in Goddard, KS. She spent the first 16 years as a K-6 Interrelated Special Education Teacher. For the past nine years, she has been an Instructional Coach. Lisa has her Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Wichita State University. She is an endorsed Teacher Leader. Lisa is also an adjunct professor for Friends University. She has been an adjunct for both Baker University and Fort Hays University. She is a Trainer of Trainers for the Kansas State Department of Education for the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards. Lisa has also presented at the KSDE Summer Academies for the past six years, and she has presented at numerous other conferences and workshops, including the Assistive Technology Industry Association.

ReNae Mann has been an educator for 19 years. She has worked as a general education teacher at the elementary level and for students with severe emotional and behavior needs at a private academy; she currently serves as a K-12 interrelated teacher. ReNae has been trained through TASN as a co-teacher and coach, and she serves in this capacity in the northwest Kansas area while working as an interrelated teacher in Weskan, KS. She has been trained in MTSS, co-teaching, differentiated instruction, content enhancement, structured teaching, and other areas focused on effective teaching practices. ReNae earned her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and

her Master’s in Adaptive Special Education from Fort Hays State University. She lives in Weskan on her family’s farm and ranch.

Cris Richardson-Seidel has worked in the field of education for almost 20 years. Cris has taught in many capacities in grades K-12, specializing in reading, behavior management, differentiated instruction, technology integration, learning disabilities, and autism. Cris is a certified AIMSweb trainer, recognized Kansas MTSS Facilitator, Autism Consultant, and School Support Specialist. Cris has presented at several state and national conventions. While working for ESSDACK, Cris developed a professional learning community entitled Spedcast, which provided podcasts and cutting-edge resources for parents and educators working with students with disabilities. Currently, Cris provides professional learning opportunities for educators and autism programming support at the South Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative.

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Observations

In order to help teachers improve their use of co-teaching practices, classroom observations and coaching sessions are an integral component of the initiative. For districts in their initial year of implementation, Dr. Richard Villa provided in-district observations to model the practice for local coaches. Each 20- to 30-minute observation was followed by a coaching session with the co-teaching team and local coach. These coaching sessions began with the co-teachers reflecting on aspects that went well in their co-taught lesson and identifying what they might have done differently to enhance their co-teaching and student achievement. By utilizing the observation data, these coaching sessions included praise for the teachers’ strengths in co-teaching as well as suggestions for areas that needed continued improvement. Praise and suggestions were tailored to each team’s unique teaching practices.

In addition to participating in observation and coaching sessions with Dr. Richard Villa, district coaches were trained in effective coaching methods using the online observation protocol. Through mock and video observations at the Co-Teaching Coaches’ Training and individualized coaching during the in-district observation, the district coaches were supported to provide continuing observations and coaching for local teams.

28

1014 14

35

29

14

37

30

66

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HS

Number of Observations per Grade

84.2% of surveyed co-teachers reported having a strong relationship with their co-teacher !

A total of 277 observations were conducted using the online protocol between August 2014 and June 2015. Of these observations, 81 were recorded during Wave 1 (August 1 – November 20), 146 were recorded during Wave 2 (November 21 – March 15), and 50 were recorded during Wave 3 (March 16 – June 15). The following graph describes the classes that were observed during the 2014-15 school year. Approximately 47% of the classes observed were grade levels Kindergarten through 5, 29% of the observations were grade levels 6-8, and 24% of the observations occurred at the high school level (grades 9-12).

The data reported on the following pages show results for various classroom variables observed during the observations.

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Science, 27

Math, 108

Language Arts, 123

Special Courses, 6

Social Studies, 13

Number of Observations by Subject

Observations

The graph above shows how often the co-teaching approaches were used according to two different data sources: teachers’ self-reported survey responses on their use of the approaches (green) and coaches’ observations of co-taught classrooms (blue). Observers and teachers agreed very closely on the ways that co-teaching approaches are used. Teachers most frequently used the supportive approach in their instruction, though the parallel and complementary approaches were also used relatively frequently.

Though each of the approaches has its own merits, research on the evidence-based practices used with the parallel, complementary, and team approaches indicates that these three approaches are more likely to impact students’ engagement and academic achievement than the supportive approach. In 84.5% of the observations, the teaching teams utilized the parallel, complementary, or team approach to co-teaching for all or some of the observation period. Effective co-teachers are able to move fluidly in and out of the different approaches based on the instructional needs of their students.

A breakdown of classes observed by subject shows that the majority of observations were of language arts or mathematics courses, which are core content courses at all grade levels. All co-taught classes included both students with and without disabilities. Class sizes varied, but on average, 19 students were present in the observed classes. Of these students, an average of five (26.3%) received special education services.

An important component of the observation was recording which co-teaching approaches the teaching team used during the observation period. During professional development, educators were taught about the four co-teaching approaches: supportive, parallel, complementary, and team.

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Observations

Co-teachers’ use of multiple intelligence theories throughout the observation period was also observed. In general, instruction that incorporates a variety of the multiple intelligences is considered to be more effective. As the graph to the left displays, co-teachers most commonly used the verbal/linguistic

intelligence, followed by the logical/mathematical, interpersonal, and visual/spatial intelligences. The use of three or more intelligences was reported in 58.5% of the observations.

Evidence-based instructional practices also include supporting students to access higher-order cognitive skills. During each observation, teacher-initiated questions and students’ responses were categorized based on the cognitive hierarchy. Throughout the 2014-15 school year, higher-order thinking was reported to be initiated by teachers in 50.9% of observations and exhibited in students’ responses in 49.1% of observations. These levels remained relatively consistent across the reporting windows.

91.8% of surveyed co-teachers believe that co-teaching provides benefits for both teachers and students !

48.1% 49.4%52.7%

49.3%50.0% 48.0%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Teacher Student

Higher-Order Thinking Observations by Wave

Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3

48.4%

82.7%

16.6%

53.1%

52.3%

22.7%

10.5%

6.5%

58.5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Logical/mathematical

Verbal/linguistic

Intrapersonal

Interpersonal

Visual/spatial

Bodily/kinesthetic

Musical/rhythmic

Naturalist

3+ Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences Observed2014-15 Percent of Classes

3+ Intelligences

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Observations

Research shows that increased use of evidence-based co-teaching practices results in higher levels of student engagement, as co-teaching strategies support higher levels of teacher-student contact and individualized support. Additionally, the professional development training sessions on effective instructional practices highlight improving student engagement as a desired outcome.

One indicator of student engagement is the amount of student talk. During each observation, the balance between teacher and student talk was assessed. Overall, 57% of the observations reported that the teachers talked more than the students, 38% reported equal teacher and student talk, and 5% of the observations identified that the students spoke more than the teachers.

Observers also monitored the percentage of students who were engaged in learning throughout the observation period and recorded the highest and lowest levels. Of the 277 recorded observations, the highest percentage of students engaged during an observation was recorded as 90-100% in 77.3% of observations, indicating high levels of student engagement in co-taught classrooms.

57% 38% 5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Discourse

Primarily Teacher Talk Equal Student and Teacher Talk Primarily Student Talk

33.6% 10.5% 20.6%

4.3%

22.7%

17.3%

12.6%

77.3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Lowest Level Observed

Highest Level Observed

Highest and Lowest Levels of Student Engagement Observed

0-29% 30-49% 50-69% 70-89% 90-100%

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Implementation

An online survey was conducted in March/April of 2015 in order to understand how teachers implementing co-teaching perceive their behaviors related to sharing responsibility, sharing experiences, working together, and refining practices. The survey also measured teachers’ planning time, the percent of students meeting academic expectations, and overall perceptions of co-teaching. Responses were collected regarding 217 co-teaching teams from 183 respondents from participating districts across the state.

Sharing responsibility is a key part of the co-teaching philosophy. When co-teachers work together in the classroom, more effective instruction can occur. Sharing responsibility is highlighted as very important throughout professional development, during coaching sessions, and in accessing the supplemental materials provided to teams. Overall, teachers felt that they were effective in identifying students’ strengths and needs and enacting discipline procedures.

68.0%62.8%

67.4%

77.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Sharing Responsibility Sharing Experiences Working Together Refining Practice

Domain AveragesPercent of Respondents Answering "Frequently" or "Always"

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The Refining Practice category of questions contained multiple items about co-teachers’ communication and adaptability. By working together to refine their classroom practices, co-teachers can continue to improve their co-teaching relationship and instruction for students. Teachers indicate that they have fun together and with students while co-teaching, communicate concerns to each other, and give each other feedback on what happens within the classroom.

Implementation

As part of the survey, information was collected about co-teachers’ shared lesson preparation time. During training, it is recommended that teachers have at least 45 minutes of shared planning time per week. Survey results show that 29.7% of co-teachers are receiving at least 45 minutes of shared planning time per week, and an additional 20.5% have 30-45 minutes of shared planning per week.

87.0%

70.0%

92.6%

62.9%

73.8%

85.2%

71.4%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

We communicate our concerns to each otherfreely.

We have a process for resolving ourdisagreements and use it when faced with

problems and conflicts.

We have fun with the students and with eachother when we co-teach.

We make changes to our co-teachinginstruction based on feedback from our

coach(es).

We use our meeting time productively.

We give feedback to one another on whatgoes on in the classroom.

We make improvements in our lessons byreflecting together on our instruction.

Refining PracticePercent of Respondents Answering "Frequently" or "Always"

None, 22.3%

15-30 minutes, 27.4%30-45 minutes,

20.5%

45-60 minutes, 15.3%

More than an hour, 14.4%

Time Spent Planning with Co-Teacher in Past WeekTime Spent Planning with

Co-Teacher in Past Week

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Kansas Department of Education Early Childhood, Special Education and Title Serviceswww.ksde.org

Kansas Technical Assistance Systems Network (TASN)www.ksdetasn.org

Kansas TASN Infinitecwww.myinfinitec.org

Kansas TASN Project Successwww.kansasprojectsuccess.org

Kansas Parent Information Resource Centerwww.kpirc.org

Kansas TASN Evaluation - Research Collaboration, University of Kansas Center for Research on Learningwww.researchcollaboration.org

An Equal Employment/Educational Opportunity Agency. The Kansas State Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: KSDE General Counsel, 120 SE 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66612 785-296-3201.

The contents of this report were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, #H323A120021. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Jennifer Coffey, OSEP.

This report was developed by TASN/SPDG evaluators at the University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning. Contact Dr. Amy Gaumer Erickson at (785) 864-0517 or agaumer@ku.edu with questions about the project evaluation.

Resources

During the 2015-16 school year, the co-teaching project will continue to add new teams across the state. These new teams will be trained by Dr. Richard Villa, the state-level trainers, and the regional trainers. Additionally, existing co-teaching teams will be supported to sustain and expand their co-teaching practices. District coaches will participate in follow-up training to continue to hone their skills. The SPDG evaluation team, in collaboration with Infinitec, will continue to monitor and report short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes of the initiative. Additionally, the Kansas Co-Teaching Initiative will continue to focus on building the expertise of new and existing state and regional co-teaching trainers around the state.