2015 TASH Conference

Collaborative Teacher Preparation where candidates in general and special education work together to co-plan, co-teach and co-assess groups of students of diverse abilities is a key element in insuring the future of Inclusive Education. Separate teacher education has served to perpetuate separate settings for students with disabilities. We will describe the evolution of our model over the past 8 years -our elementary/special education faculty collaboration, our relationship with our partnership schools, and specific ways we support and scaffold our interns to work effectively with ALL students. We will also share an adapted curriculum project completed by interns during field experience. OBJECTIVES: 1. Identify models and strategies used by the program at Radford University. 2. Learn how a structured adapted curriculum project in social studies can help interns in elementary and special education develop the skills needed to support the academic success of students with complex disabilities. 2. Learn about and discuss how we can work together to prepare teachers who believe in inclusion and who will work together to teach all children 3. Develop a repertoire of ideas to use with candidates for structured co-planning, co-teaching and co-assessing with students of diverse abilities. 4. Share with colleagues the impact of collaborative teacher preparation programs on the collaborative practices of new teachers and their support of inclusive education. 5. Brainstorm new ways to reach out to colleagues in Teacher Preparation Programs to begin the process of collaboration.