Collaboration in Education | CalSTAT Technical Assistance and Training

 

 

 

Technical Assistance and Training

CalSTAT Techincal Assitance and Training

Collaboration in Education

Developed by
Colleen Shea Stump, Ph.D.
San Francisco State University
and California Department of Education, Special Education Division

Core Messages

  1. Individuals bring professional competence, cultural competence, communication skills and conflict resolution skills to collaborative efforts.
    All individuals bring expertise and talents to collaborative efforts. Among those most critical to recognize are professional competence (i.e., individuals’ expertise and knowledge in their selected area such as the teaching of history and the teaching of students with disabilities); cultural competence (i.e., understanding one’s own attitudes, values, needs, and beliefs and how they influence responses to and work with others); communication skills (i.e., skills associated with sending and receiving messages in ways that result in joint problem solving, the building of a supportive team culture, and the development of jointly determined action plans); and conflict resolution skills (i.e., ability to constructively work through differences of opinions to arrive at joint decisions).
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  2. Sustainable collaborative efforts involve stakeholders who share a commitment to common goals and who work cooperatively as equal partners.
    Whether beginning a collaborative effort or striving to maintain one, participants must clearly articulate the goals of their effort and make a commitment to following through with assigned responsibilities. Establishing parity among group members allows for the voicing of questions and differences in opinions, and for articulating alternative strategies. This results in enhanced understanding of what the group is striving to achieve and the steps to be taken to achieve it.
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  3. Administrative support, time to collaborate, and ongoing professional development opportunities are integral components of successful collaborative efforts.
    Administrators who support innovation and provide the resources necessary to turn innovations into daily practice, including time for team members to work together and opportunities for continued professional development in areas of interest and need, make enduring change possible. Teacher teams depend on administrative support to sustain their efforts.
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  4. Effective collaborative efforts provide for early intervention, incorporate data-informed decision-making, deliver intensive academic intervention, and use the general education curriculum as the basis for making curricular and instructional decisions.
    Systematically identifying and addressing needs as soon as they appear, making curricular and instructional decisions based on informal and on-going evaluations of student performance, providing intensive, skill-based instruction for those students who need it while also engaging them in general education core curriculum, are cornerstones of successful collaborative models aimed at including students with disabilities in general education classrooms and curriculum. Absence of one of these elements may weaken the overall model and limit teacher and student satisfaction and performance outcomes.
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  5. Sustainable collaborative efforts involve teaming, communication, and on-going dialogue among stakeholders, and the shared belief that all stakeholders are accountable for all learners.
    Teaming can result in the easing or erasing of boundaries between general and special education teachers as well as service providers. It can provide fertile ground for the sharing of expertise and for the energizing of team efforts through the linking and sharing of resources. By continually talking and problem solving, members develop an understanding of and appreciation for their role in meeting the needs of all learners and the development of a community of learners whose foundation is shared expertise.
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  6. Collaborative efforts are developmental in nature.
    Collaborative teams move through developmental stages, and as they advance through each, develop trust and an openness to new and challenging activities. Collaboration may begin as investigating students’ needs prior to special education referral (e.g., participating on student study teams), and move through several stages. Stages include: (a) sharing information about the needs of students identified as having disabilities and found eligible for special education services (e.g., what it means to have a learning disability; students’ Individualized Education Program goals and objectives), (b) discussing adaptations and modifications (e.g., the types of interventions most appropriate for supporting student participation and learning in the classroom); (c) providing supports in the classroom (e.g., monitoring student work and behavior; preteaching or reteaching skills to a small group of students), (d) sharing instruction in the classroom (e.g., alternating roles of lead and support teacher), and (e) jointly providing instruction in the classroom (e.g., team teaching). Understanding the developmental nature of collaboration can aid teams in setting reasonable goals for their work together and lead to sustainable collaborative programs.
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Last updated: 06/09/2010