A Case Study of the Collaboration in Mathematics between a Fourth-Grade Teacher and a Talented and Gifted Coordinator

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to describe how a 4th-grade teacher and a TAG coordinator collaborated to improve services for advanced learners without the support of university faculty and with limited resources. Interviews, questionnaires, transcriptions of videotaped consultation sessions, and observations of classroom instruction showed that participants coplanned lessons, utilized collaborative teaching, and developed a close rapport. Service was provided directly through a pull-out model that offered little in the way of training the teacher for differentiating the curriculum. Moving to a more indirect model of service would require better communication of role and goal expectations between the two participants. However, given the shortage of resources in many schools and the highly competitive demands for time during the school day, implementation is “a long road” that is likely to be traversed over an extended time period.

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