Teacher Collaboration: The Key to Student Success?

Abstract

Co-teaching is one of the main characteristics of educational collaboration and while co-teaching may be one of the most popular forms of collaboration within a school, it is just one of many ways to collaborate as teachers to improve student success in the classroom. This thesis project discusses the various types of collaboration - professional development, reflection, communication, common vision, mentoring, co-teaching, common planning time, and resources. It also explores the impact of staff collaboration within a school to show how it can impact student success. Student success was measured through comparison of students who have been exposed (knowingly or unknowingly) to a collaborative structure versus students who have not been exposed to a collaborative teaching structure. The aspects measured are those of communication in the classroom, passing rates, and overall impact on grades (marking period, assessments and projects). School staff was also surveyed on their response to participation in the collaborative environment. The research project was conducted in an urban school district in western New York. Project conclusions on student assessments show significant increase in student achievement in subject areas incorporating a collaborative teaching environment.