Co-TeachingFinding the Right Balance:

Roles, Relationships & Supports

This session explores a variety of co-teaching models and offers suggestions to help

teachers build relationships and work as teams to meet

the needs of all students.

Essential Questions

• Why co-teach?

• What does co-teaching look like?

• How can teachers and students thrive in

co-teaching environments?

• How can supervisors establish and

maintain a successful co-teaching model?

Why do we do it?

IDEA + ESEA = Increased AccountabilityState and federal laws focus attention on the achievement of diverse learners as full participants in rigorous academic instruction, the general curriculum, and assessment system.

Highly QualifiedCo-teaching can assist with the certification dilemma and create partnerships that combine expertise to improve student outcomes.

“Legal trends reinforce the notion that teachers and other school personnel (e.g., special educators…) can no longer be most effective as isolated professionals.” (Villa, Thousand & Nevin, 2004)

An emerging database from PK-12 leads

to the following conclusions:

1. At all grade levels, students with disabilities can be educated effectively in general education environments where teachers, support personnel, and families collaborate.

2. Improvements are evidenced in both academic and social skills arenas.

Why?– Co-teaching models how people share of ideas, work

cooperatively, and contribute to one another‟s learning.

– Students have access to unique, diverse, and specialized knowledge, skills, and instructional approaches of the co-teachers. (Bauwens, Hourcade, & Friend, 1989; Hourcade & Bauwens, 2002)

– Co-teaching encourage teachers to invent creative solutions

Co-teaching may offer the

following benefits:

1. Students develop better attitudes about themselves, academic improvement, and social skills.

2. Teacher-student ratio is increased, leading to better teaching and learning conditions.

3. Teachers are able to use research-proven teaching strategieseffectively.

4. A greater sense of community is fostered in the classroom.

5. Co-teachers report professional growth, personal support, and enhanced motivation.

6. Increased job satisfaction can be experienced because needs for survival, power, freedom or choice, a sense of belonging, and fun are met.

Co-teaching is NOT…

– Teachers teaching alternating subjects

– One person teaching while the other makes materials or grades student work

– One person teaching a lesson while others sit/stand and watch (without function or assignment)

– When only one person‟s ideas determine what (or how something) should be taught

– One person acting as a tutor

– A teacher and a paraprofessional

Co-teaching IS…

• Two or more certified professionals sharing responsibility for teaching all of the students assigned to a classroom (planning, instruction, evaluation).– Equal in licensure and accountability for student achievement

• A fun way for students to learn from two or more people who may have different ways of thinking or teaching.

Skirtic (1991) considers co-teaching a dynamic structure in which complex work is more likely to be accomplished and innovative services are more likely to be crafted to meet individual student needs.

Effective co-teachers agree to…

• Coordinate their work to achieve at least one common,publicly agreed-on goal.

• Share a belief system that each of the team members has unique and needed expertise.

• Demonstrate parity by alternatively engaging in the dual roles of the teacher and learner, expert and novice, giver and recipient or knowledge or skills.

• Use a distributive functions theory of leadership in which the task and relationship function of the traditional lone teacher are distributed among all co-teaching group members

Elements of Co-Teaching

• Use a cooperative process that includes:– Face-to-face interactions

…a critical component for maintaining open communication and making decisions

– Positive interdependence…a belief that everyone is equally responsible for the learning of all students and this can be accomplished by pooling their diverse knowledge, skills, and material resources.

– Interpersonal skills…includes verbal and nonverbal components of trust, trust-building, conflict management, creative problem solving, giving feedback and encouragement to each other

– Monitoring co-teacher progress…means frequently debriefing the success and challenges of co-teaching lessons

– Individual accountability…frequently assess the performance of each team member

Video: Power of 2Shared Beliefs

(5 minutes)

Helpful Resource Documents:

• Three Stages and Components of the Co-Teaching Relationship

• Co-Teaching Inventories for General and Special Education Teachers

• Co-Teaching and Collaboration Issues

• Adapting Assessment, Evaluation and Grading

Section 2: Two ModelsWhat can co-teaching look like?

The 4 Approaches of Co-Teaching (Villa, Thousand & Nevin, 2004)

Supportive Teaching– One teacher takes the lead role while the other rotates

among the students to provide support.

– The supporting teacher watches or listens as students work together, stepping in to provide one-to-one tutorial assistance when necessary, while the other continues to direct the lesson.

– This approach is often used by teachers who are new to co-teaching.

The 4 Approaches of

Co-Teaching

Parallel Teaching

– Two or more people work with different groups of

students in different sections of the classroom.

– Co-teachers may rotate among the groups, and

sometimes there may be one group of students that

works without a co-teacher for part of the time.

– Teachers new to co-teaching often choose to begin

with this approach.

The 4 Approaches of

Co-Teaching

Complementary Teaching– Co-teacher does something to enhance the instruction

provided by the other co-teacher (e.g., paraphrasing, modeling note taking skillson a transparency).

– Sometimes, one of the teaching partners pre-teaches social-skill roles required for successful cooperative group learning and them monitors as students practice the roles during the lesson taught by the co-teacher.

– As co-teachers gain in their confidence, complementary teaching and team teaching become preferred approaches.

The 4 Approaches of

Co-Teaching

Team Teaching– Both teachers do what the traditional teacher has done

plan, teach, assess, and assume responsibility for all the students in the classroom. For example, one teacher might demonstrate the steps in a science experiment, and the other models the recording and illustrating of the results.

– Team teachers divide the lessons in ways that allow the students to experience each teacher‟s strengths and expertise.

– Co-teachers simultaneously deliver the lessons. Both teachers are alternatively taking the lead and being the supporter.

Observations…

Most teachers begin with parallel teaching and supportive teaching because these approaches involve less structures coordination with members of the co-teaching team.

Gradually, as co-teaching skills and relationships strengthen, co-teachers venture more into the complimentary teaching and team teaching approaches that require more time, coordination, and trust.

Another Model…

Six Examples of

Co-Teaching (Friend, 2008)

Group Discussions

1. Is it important that co-teachers exchange roles when using approaches such as one teach, one observes and one teach, one assist? Why or why not?

2. Is it important for educators to discuss topics such as discipline, instructional and organizational routines, confidentiality, and the other issues as part of their co-teaching practice? Why or why not?

3. What special considerations are necessary to support students who are deaf or hard of hearing in relation to the co-teaching models?

What are the roles & responsibilities

of co-teaching partners?

1. Share decisions before, during, after instruction

2. Identify issues to resolve related to the planning and implementation of co-teaching lessons:

• Time for planning

• Instruction

• Student behavior

• Communication

• Evaluation

• Logistics

“On the fly”

Confuses the team and students

Helpful Resource Documents:

• Classroom Routine & Procedures

• Co-Teaching Models Between General and

Special Education Teachers

• Preliminary Discussion Questions

• Teaching Style Inventory

Section 3:Meshing Planning With Co-Teaching

• Be clear on what your rationale and objectives are

for co-teaching: Motivation and self-assessment

• Set up a specific time to sit down and address the

role and responsibility issues

• Agree on a co-teaching partnership you will start

using and the logistics for co-teaching.

Meshing Planning With Co-Teaching

Find and create time for ongoing

planning and reflection

“The time necessary to examine, reflect on,

amend, and redesign programs is not auxiliary

to teaching responsibilities – nor is it „released

time‟ from them. It is absolutely central to such

responsibilities, and essential to making school

succeed” (Raywid, 1993).

Meshing Planning With Co-Teaching

Effective and efficient use of planning time

• It‟s not how much time that‟s important. It‟s how the resource is used that makes a difference.

• Face-to-face interaction is critical!

• Consider using a co-teaching planning meeting agenda format to make meetings more effective and efficient.

• Lesson planning as co-teachers (See examples)

• Planning for professional growth and future partnerships

Section 4: Survival tips for getting along with your

co-teacher

• Keep communication alive

• Understand the developmental nature of

co-teaching relationships

• Manage conflict

Tips for avoiding potential problems

1. Know with whom you need to co-teach.

2. Establish and clarify co-teaching goals to avoid hidden agendas.

3. Agree to use common conceptual framework, language, and set of interpersonal skills.

4. Practice communication skills for successful co-teacher interactions – Achieving the tasks and maintaining positive relationships.

5. Know how to facilitate a collaborative culture.

6. Recognize and respect differences in excellence and the multiple sources of motivation for co-teachers.

7. Expect to be responsible and expect to be held accountable.

8. Agree to reflective analysis of the co-teaching process and celebrate often.

(Villa, Thousands & Nevin, 2004)

Section 5: Training, Administrative, and Logistical Support

for Co-Teaching

Build a Vision– Consensus building through an examination of the

rationales for co-teaching

– Consensus building through respecting what we expect

– Consensus building by clarifying how and when to use co-teaching as a strategy to support diverse learners

Build the Skills & Capacity for Co-Teaching– Who gets training?

– Common core of training

Training, Administrative, and Logistical

Support for Co-Teaching

Incentives to Engage People in Co-Teaching

– Time: The universal incentive

– Scheduling as an incentive

– Intrinsic incentives

Resources for Co-Teaching

– Redefining roles

– Resource allocation

Getting Started:

Planning and Taking Action

• Benefits of involvement and communication in planning (importance)

• Work with the unwilling (buy in)

• Put it in writing (shared vision and accountability)

• Monitor implementation (See observation checklist)

Helpful Resources:

• Co-Teaching Rating Scales for General

Educators, Special Educators, and Supervisors

• Colorado Assessment of Co-Teaching (Co-ACT)

Colorado Assessment of Co-Teaching

(Co-ACT)

The items included in this assessment are associated with effective co-teaching teams.

Factor I: Personal Requisites. Personal requisites are the skills and characteristics that each teacher brings into the co-teaching situation. They include your attitude, beliefs, experience, teaching style, interpersonal skills, and knowledge specific to your discipline or subject.

Factor II: The Professional Relationship. The Professional relationship describes the collaborative interaction of the co-teachers. It includes the sense of parity between co-teachers, the willingness to learn from one another, the ability to communicate and work toward a shared goal and the extent to which key decisions and accountability for those decisions are shared.

Factor III: Classroom Dynamics. Classroom dynamics are the actions that give added benefit to the co-taught classroom. These include your perceptions of how teaching and learning occur, your knowledge of the academic and social curriculum, and the range of individualizing strategies you use.

Friend, M. (2008) Co-Teach! A Handbook for Creating and Sustaining Effective Partnerships in Inclusive Schools. Greensboro, NC: Marilyn Friend, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-9778503-0-3www.marilynfriend.com

Resources

Villa, R.A., Thousand, J.S., & Nevin, A.I. (2008) A Guide to Co-Teaching: Practical Tips for Facilitating Student Learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

ISBN:9-7814-1296-0595www.corwinpress.com

Resources

Karten, T. J. (2005) Inclusion Strategies That Work! Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

ISBN:1-4129-0525-7www.corwinpress.com

Karten, T. J. (2007) More Inclusion Strategies That Work! Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

ISBN:9781-4129-4116-7www.corwinpress.com

Resources

Honigsfeld, A. & Dove M.G. (2010) Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Language Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

ISBN:9-7814-1297-6503www.corwinpress.com

Resources

www.marilynfriend.comResources

http://arksped.k12.ar.us/sections/spd/CoTeachingProject.htmResources

www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Co-TeachingModule.aspResources

TEA/AGC Network Project:

Coming Soon!

Co-Teaching – A How To Guide:

Guidelines for Co-Teaching in Texas

ClosingThank you for attending this session!

References

Friend, M. (2008) Co-Teach! A Handbook for Creating and Sustaining Effective

Partnerships in Inclusive Schools. Greensboro, NC: Marilyn Friend, Inc.

Friend, M. (2005) The Power of 2: Making a Difference Through Co-Teaching

(2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.

Villa, R.A., Thousand, J.S., Nevin, A.I. (2008) A Guide to Co-Teaching: Practical

Tips for Facilitating Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Co-Teaching Modules for Teachers and Supervisors by the Access Center

http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Co-TeachingModule.asp