The Probability of a General Education Student Placed in a Co-Taught Inclusive Classroom of Passing the 2014 New York State ELA and Mathematics Assessment in Grades 6-8

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Study analyzes how placement in a co-taught inclusive classroom affects academic achievement for general education students in grades 6–8. Using 2014 New York State ELA and Mathematics assessments, the research employs Propensity Score Matching to approximate a randomized design and reduce selection bias. Logistic regression evaluates the effects of gender, socioeconomic status, attendance, prior performance, ethnicity, and inclusive-classroom assignment on the likelihood of scoring proficient. Results show higher odds of proficiency for students not placed in the co-taught inclusive classroom for both ELA and Mathematics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Inclusion mandates and high-stakes testing

Co-teaching model and instructional approaches

Legal framework and research background

Prior findings on ability grouping (tracking)

Purpose of the study

The Probability of a General Education Student Placed in a Co-Taught Inclusive Classroom of Passing the 2014 New York State ELA and Mathematics Assessment in Grades 6-8 This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of school administration and K-12 education. Michael M. St. John Seton Hall University—Class of 2015 Gerard Babo Seton Hall University This study examined the influence of placement in a co-taught inclusive classroom on the academic achievement of general education students in grades 6-8 in a suburban New York school district on the 2014 New York State ELA and Mathematics Assessments. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was utilized for sample selection in order to simulate a more randomized design methodology and to decrease the likelihood of selection bias (Randolph, Falbe, Manuel and Balloun, 2014). Logistic regression was used to determine the influence of gender, socioeconomic status, attendance, past academic performance, ethnicity, and assignment to an inclusive classroom on the probability of a general education student scoring proficient on the 2014 New York State Assessments in ELA and Mathematics in grades 6-8. Results indicated that grade 6-8 general education students who were not placed in a co-taught inclusive classroom had a greater probability of being proficient on both the 2014 New York State ELA Assessment, 5 to 1 odds, and New York State Mathematics Assessment, 2 to 1 odds. NCPEA Education Leadership Review of Doctoral Research, Vol. 2, No. 2 – October 2015 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2015 National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. This manuscript may not be used commercially or edited. When quoting portions of this text, full attribution to the author/s is required. Introduction Federal mandates have led to an increase of inclusion classrooms from grades K-12 throughout the country (Nichols, Dowdy, & Nichols, 2010) . At the same time, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top legislation has placed increased emphasis on high stakes testing. Student performance on high stakes state assessments are now used to evaluate teachers. Poor evaluations for teachers could lead to consequences, including dismissal and restrictions on returning to the profession. Students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their general education peers in the inclusion classroom, as they are responsible for meeting the same state and national standards, as well as being proficient on the same high stakes assessments. Asa result, effectively implementing an inclusion model that promotes high academic achievement for all students is of great importance (Murawski & Swanson, 2001) . One model of inclusion used throughout the country is the co-teaching model. The coteaching model consists of two teachers, one regular education teacher and one special education teacher working together in one classroom as equals to educate students (Dieker & Murawski, 2003) . However, the term co-teaching is also used in a more general sense in research to describe a classroom in which one or more teachers share the instructional responsibilities within the classroom (Park, 2014) . To distinguish between the two, the model described by Dieker and Murawski will be referred to as the “co-taught inclusive classroom” throughout this paper. The goal of the co-taught inclusive model is to improve student performance, educational options, and participation of special education students (Mastropieri et al., 2005; Murawski, 2008) . Teachers in the co-taught inclusive model use different approaches like: one teach one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching (Friend & Cook, 1995; Friend, Cook, Chamberlain, & Shamberger, 2010) . The wide use of the co-taught inclusive model raises questions for educators.

FAQs

What is the main research question of the study?

How placement in a co-taught inclusive classroom influences academic achievement of general education students in grades 6–8 on the 2014 New York State ELA and Mathematics assessments.

How does the study select and compare participants?

It uses Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to simulate a more randomized design and decrease the likelihood of selection bias.

Which factors are examined to predict proficiency on the 2014 assessments?

Logistic regression assesses gender, socioeconomic status, attendance, past academic performance, ethnicity, and assignment to an inclusive classroom.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag