Collaborative Teaming

Collaborative teaming is the glue that holds an inclusive school together. But most educators don't get explicit training on teamwork skills—and that's why you need the new third edition of this popular how-to book. Packed with practical tips, tools, and vignettes, Collaborative Teaming shows your staff how to work together effectively to support students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Perfect for independent study, inservice training, or preservice study, this reader-friendly guide will get teachers on board with collaborative teaming and give them fresh ways to improve the academic progress and behavior of all students.

• Master multiple types of teaming, from co-teaching to collaborative consultation
• Clearly define a team's purpose and focus
• Establish trust and consistent communication among team members
• Schedule and facilitate productive team meetings
• Make sound decisions by consensus
• Solve problems and create action plans as a team
• Use teamwork to increase the participation and learning of all students
• Ensure positive interactions with families

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Activities that help teachers reflect on and apply the strategies; vignettes that show strategies in action; reproducible forms and checklists for conducting meetings, co-teaching effectively, and more. (For easy printing, full-size forms will now be available for download when you purchase the book.)

• How teaming relates to schoolwide initiatives like PBIS and RTI
• Expanded chapter on co-teaching
• New chapter on collaborative consultation
• More strategies for effective communication and conflict resolution
• Insights on using today's technology to collaborate
• New vignettes featuring diverse students with a wide range of disabilities
• Helpful "focusing questions" in each chapter—perfect for use in courses and book clubs

Rachel Janney, Ph.D., has worked with children and adults with disabilities in a number of capacities, including special education teacher, camp counselor, educational consultant, and researcher. She received her master's degree from Syracuse University and her doctorate from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Dr. Janney now teaches courses in special education, supervises student teachers, and coordinates the undergraduate program in special education at Radford University. She also serves as Co-director of the Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) for Professionals Serving Individuals with Disabilities at Radford University. The T/TAC, part of a statewide technical assistance network that is funded by the Virginia Department of Education, provides a variety of services and resources to special education teams in school divisions throughout southwest Virginia. Dr. Snell and coauthor Dr. Janney have conducted several research projects in inclusive schools and classrooms. The focus of these projects has been on the ways that special and general education teachers work together to design and implement adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities placed in inclusive settings. Both authors are frequent presenters of workshops on topics related to successful inclusive education.

Margaret E. King-Sears, Ph.D., is a professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Special Education. She also coordinates the Mild to Moderate Disabilities Program and the Inclusion Program at Johns Hopkins. She has taught students with mild to moderate disabilities in elementary and secondary grades in Florida, Germany, and Japan. Dr. King-Sears's research interests are in self-management, inclusion, and curriculum-based assessment. She is co-author with Stephanie Carpenter of Teaching Self-Management to Elementary Students with Developmental Disabilities (American Association on Mental Retardation, 1997), co-author with Dianne Bradley and Diane Tessier-Switlick of Teaching Students in Inclusive Settings (Allyn & Bacon, 1997), and author of Curriculum-Based Assessment in Special Education (Singular Publishing, 1994).

Martha E. Snell, Ph.D., is a professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia where she has taught since 1973. Her focus is special education and, specifically, the preparation of teachers of students with mental retardation and severe disabilities and young children with disabilities. Prior to completing her doctoral degree in special education at Michigan State University, she worked with children and adults with disabilities as a residential child care worker, a teacher, and a provider of technical assistance to school and residential programs. In addition to teaching coursework at the undergraduate and graduate levels, she currently coordinates the special education program, supervises teachers in training, provides in-service training to teachers and parents in schools and agencies, conducts research, serves on the boards of several community agencies serving people with disabilities, and is an active member of the American Association on Mental Retardation and TASH (formerly The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps).