What is the best way to provide a high-quality education to English learners? Recent analyses of the research by Goldenberg, Saunders and Marcelletti clearly indicate that English learners benefit from quality classroom instruction that includes supports and modifications, as well as English language development (ELD).

Research by Thomas and Collier has clearly shown, however, that pull-out ELD services — in which English learners are removed from their classroom to receive ELD — have a negative impact on student achievement. When students are pulled out of the classroom, they often miss valuable instruction that their peers are getting.

In addition, English learners may feel stigmatized or experience teasing or bullying as they are perceived as receiving treatment that is different or remedial. A question that schools often grapple with, then, is how to provide meaningful ELD while not pulling English learners out of the classroom.

Defining co-teaching

Many schools and districts are moving into a push-in model of ELD, wherein English learners receive instruction in the classroom from a specialist who comes in at designated times. However, co-teaching is not necessarily defined by location. One of the keys of successful co-teaching includes connections to what students are learning in the classroom.

Co-teaching should include two professional educators with appropriate credentials. The teachers should be seen as partners to help the students achieve at the highest levels, where each teacher delivers high-quality instruction to the students with whom they are working.

Co-teaching should not involve one teacher delivering instruction to the whole group while the other circulates around or takes a turn. Rather, each teacher is teaching in the same physical space, and connecting the instruction and learning to the lesson objectives.

In successful co-teaching situations, the ELD teacher is neither designing lessons completely independent of what the students are learning in their classroom, nor repeating or preteaching what the students will be learning in future lessons. Ideally, the ELD teacher is connecting the lessons to what is being taught. ELD instruction should include instruction in vocabulary and language structures that relate to the content being taught.

Models of co-teaching

There are numerous ways to integrate co-teaching in the classroom. The following short descriptions provide options to consider if you would like to integrate co-teaching with an ELD teacher.

Teacher and wanderer: One teacher identifies the skills and strategies needed, and conducts the formal teaching. The other teacher teaches concepts and components of the lesson to small groups of students, and assesses skills of the small group.

Location teaching: Two teachers use data to determine student need and stations to which students can go to practice particular skills. Each teacher then facilitates instruction with a small group of students in order to meet the needs of each student.

Parallel teaching: Two teachers collaboratively plan instruction and decide on instruction for each group of students. The students are divided in half, and each teacher independently delivers instruction to half of the students. Each teacher monitors and assesses the group of students with whom they are working.

Supplemental teaching: Both teachers organize the lesson and decide on the content based on the needs of the students. One teacher delivers the lesson, and the other teacher provides supplemental activities for small groups of students or individuals. During the initial lesson, each teacher assesses the students to see who would benefit from the supplemental instruction and activities.

Team teaching: Teachers both plan for and deliver instruction simultaneously to the class. Each teacher supports the other during instruction and assesses students throughout the lesson in order to determine which students would benefit from additional or supplemental instruction.

Considerations

A successful co-teaching scenario will require many pieces and parts to work harmoniously. While the following considerations are not the only pieces that need to be in place, they illustrate some of the resources and supports that will be helpful in creating a successful experience for all involved.

Training in effective practices for teaching English learners: All teachers should have initial — and ongoing — training on meeting the needs of English learners. There are several effective training models available that show teachers how to analyze the linguistic demand of tasks and adjust instruction. This helps English learners at all proficiency levels be successful at attaining the content standard goals and objectives while developing English language proficiency.

Collaboration and communication: Teachers who are going to work closely together in a co-teaching scenario will need to have some time to collaborate and communicate on a variety of topics. Teachers will need to discuss logistics, lesson plans and student data in order for lessons to be successful.

Knowledge of students: Effective lessons will be designed to meet the instructional needs of the students, including taking into account the proficiency levels of the students. All teachers should have access to, and be familiar with, the proficiency levels of their students. This information will allow the teachers to effectively design and deliver lessons to the students they serve.

Curriculum map: When all teachers are aware of the content that is going to be taught over the course of the year, they can focus more on designing effective lessons and collaborating on the linguistic needs of the students. Because the ELD teacher often needs to collaborate and work with a variety of teachers, a curriculum map will help to clarify the content to be taught in each of the classrooms.

Co-teaching can be a powerful way to help teachers effectively meet the needs of English learners. Teachers and administrators who are considering a co-teaching model should review the various models of co-teaching available and consider the variables that will help make a co-teaching situation effective and viable.

The considerations listed in this article are but a few of the many details that will need to be thought through. When teachers collaborate to effectively plan and deliver instruction to English learners, powerful learning can occur.