Evaluating Co-teaching as a Means for Successful Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in a Rural District

In response to this absence, rural schools need to systematically collect data, which promote effective inclusive practices (Beloin, 1998). Rural communities with a preservice education program in the vicinity may benefit from some data collection and analysis expertise, and willing researchers with co-teaching and inclusion as an agenda. Although external evaluators are optimal, this expertise should complement an internal impetus in the rural district to organize and use data for decision making. This manuscript provides a framework for organizing data-driven decision making for inclusive approaches in rural schools. Rural administrators can carefully establish goals for inclusion with key stakeholders, develop evaluation questions in advance to set up formative and summative data collection, track implementation of the inclusive practices, and determine outcomes.

Geneseo Central administrators will continue to evaluate their co-teaching models, bringing the focus in the next few years to the middle and high school grades. More input and feedback from co-teachers in these grades will guide future modification of evaluation efforts (Salend, 1999). Planned program evaluation of co-teaching at Geneseo Central has assisted administrators in achieving equilibrium with this reform, provided a vehicle for them to monitor program success, established some structure for teachers to explore alternative approaches to teaching, and allowed students with disabilities new access to their peers and the general education curriculum.

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