>Readers debate value of Collaborative teachers
Collaborative teachers means 2 full certified teachers in a classroom. It is like having two managers in a department, tends not to work real well. The only way it does work well is if one steps back and basically acts as a teacher’s aide – in which case just pay for a teacher’s aide.
I have not seen the value added by having a certified teacher in the classroom as opposed to an aid at half the cost and have generally found the aids to be superior in terms of the assistance they give to ALL students. Of course, there are exceptions to this on both sides but, in my experience, two teachers actually results in a less well-run classroom. If we’re cutting the special ed. budget, we should take a hard look at the necessity of the collaborative teachers.
It always seemed that no one was in charge and the quality of instruction was always substandard compared to single instructor classes. Consistently, if one teacher was teaching, the other was not involved with the class at all or any individual students. My child NEVER got added attention in a collaborative class and in fact got less. I did not realize that collaborative classes were there to accomodate special needs kids. They really don’t help at all. What a waste.
My child does worse in a collaborative classroom setting and reports that the collaborative teacher “just kind of hangs out at the front of the classroom and interupts the class ocassionally with comments that make no sense”. They seem to be a detriment to learning (in most instances). I, like you, have complained that they just make no sense; if a spec. ed. child can function intellectually in a mainstream classroom then so be it. If an aid is necessary for other accomodations, such as organization, notetaking, etc. then provide an aid. The collaborative teachers cost 2x as much as an aid and do 1/2 the work.
My problem is that everyone complains about special ed. costing so much. Many special ed. parents, like regular ed parents, have cost-saving ideas that are not considered by the BOE or district personnel. Getting rid of collaborative teachers is high on my list. It seems that all school district use special ed. funding to place extra teachers/aid in classrooms where they aren’t really needed for that cohort of students. If RPS wants teachers helpers, they should NOT try to hide them in the special ed. budget.