Using a framework for collaborative teaching: how the constructs of the framework impact administrators' attitudes and practices regarding inclusion

The purpose of this qualitative study was to look at how administrators perceive their role in supporting collaborative practices and their effectiveness while incorporating the framework of the Collaborative Teaching Project (CTP). The CTP was created by a suburban district to provide structure to collaborative teaching in order to address the needs of special education students. In this study looked, six different administrators were interviewed using an interview protocol in order to gain insight in to how they perceive their role as they implement collaborative teaching on their campuses. This study used a descriptive case study design and moved to an exploratory case study design in order to initially describe the Collaborative Teaching program created by a district and then explore its undetermined impact and outcomes as it relates to administrators’ attitudes and practices towards inclusive teaching. Results of this study indicated that the administrators that participated perceived their roles as relational and responsive. All of the themes and subthemes that emerged are directly related to how the teaming and training of the collaborative teaching project helped to provide support in the facilitation of co-teaching. The data also provide information on whether the project changed administrator perceptions of collaborative teaching and how administrators can support collaborative teaching on their campuses.