Collaborative Efforts between Agricultural and Special Education Teachers to Enhance Inclusion of Students with Disabilities into Agricultural Education

This study was conducted to determine experiences of southwestern Virginia high school agricultural and special education teachers with regards to the collaboration that may or may not exist between them to enhance the learning of students with special needs (SWD) taking agricultural education classes. It also sought to determine factors that motivate or inhibit collaboration, strategies for overcoming the barriers that may exist, and indicators of effective collaboration between these teachers.

The following research questions were answered by conducting the study.

1. What is the status of collaboration between agriculture and special education teachers to enhance inclusion of students with disabilities?
2. What factors exist that either motivate or inhibit collaboration between agriculture and special education teachers with regards to enhancing the inclusion of student with disabilities in agricultural education classes and laboratories?
3. If barriers exist that inhibit collaboration between agriculture and special education teachers, what strategies might be implemented to overcome them?
4. What indicators reveal the establishment and continuation of effective collaboration between agriculture and special education teachers with regards to enhancing SWD learning in agricultural education classrooms and laboratories?

The researcher used interviews as the qualitative research tool. Convenience, criterion, and purposeful sampling were used by the researcher to identify participants to best answer the studies' research questions. Overall, collaboration between agricultural and special education teachers did exist. The frequency of collaboration depended on many factors. In most schools the frequency was limited due to a number of barriers. Examples of these barriers included, but were not limited to, lack of knowledge of each teacher regarding the other teacher's discipline, case overload for special education teachers, lack of time provided for collaboration, and the physical distance between the agricultural and special education departments. Examples for overcoming the barriers included, but were not limited to, enhanced communication via technology, creative scheduling to allow for collaboration, and provision of professional development to enhance the knowledge of each teacher regarding the discipline of the other teacher.