Inclusion Corner is a monthly look at effective instructional strategies for inclusive classrooms.

Co-teaching implemented with fidelity has a profound impact on a range of learners with and without disabilities from a variety of cultures. Co-teaching is often characterized as a "marriage" between a general education and a specialist (special education teacher, English language teacher and/or related service provider).

Formally defined, co-teaching is two or more educators sharing responsibility for teaching some or all of the students assigned to a classroom. According to Marilyn Friend and Lynne Cook, it involves the distribution of responsibility among people for planning, instruction and evaluation for a classroom of students.

The next three articles will focus on the three components needed to improve student outcomes through co-teaching. This first article will focus on co-planning.

Co-planning

According to Friend, it is essential that co-teaching teams have time to discuss a shared philosophy or belief system around student achievement, pedagogy and class climate.

The foundation of successful co-planning includes time for professionals to discuss how their individual philosophies/beliefs about students, pedagogy and classroom climate are aligned. If the teachers find their beliefs are not aligned initially, successful teams meet and plan to align their beliefs about pedagogy in order to benefit all students.

After these beginning conversations, teachers then build on these beliefs and co-plan to establish routines, such as how to utilize each other's strengths, how to analyze student data and how to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners.

Maximizing both educators

To facilitate effective co-planning meetings, each educator should capitalize on his/her lens of expertise. See diagram for an example of how each role enhances content and provides access to rigorous instruction.

These roles are not mutually exclusive, often times the learning specialist may have some content knowledge, and the content expert is able to differentiate instruction for diverse learners. However, for planning purposes, if both educators come to the planning session with a focus, the team ends up maximizing the limited planning time and supporting all students with rich instruction.

Thus, the general educator will be able to focus on content and answer the following questions:

  • What content is essential for students to master?
  • What is the big idea we want all students to know?
  • How can we effectively teach the content?
  • What concepts do students usually struggle with?

On the other hand, the learning specialists can focus on differentiation, answering the following questions:

  • What learning strategies will students need to master the content?
  • How can we differentiate based on student readiness, interest and learning profile to ensure students are prepared for learning and objective/content mastery?

Technology resources

Due to many factors and variables, face-to-face co-planning time is often limited. Best practice is for co-teachers to meet in person at least once a week, but the following technology resources help teachers collaborate multiple times a day.

  • Google Drive: This free, cloud-based program makes sharing your files simple. In addition, Google Drive allows multiple people to edit the same file, allowing for real-time collaboration.
  • Plan Book: Basic features are free. You can share lesson plans, attach and print worksheets.
  • Common Curriculum: Basic features are free. You can create and share lesson plans, search and link lessons to Common Core, and organize templates for lessons.

Last-minute tips for co-planning

Schedule regular face-to-face planning meetings. Avoid "fitting it in" and set a time limit for planning. Focus first on planning the lesson, then set time aside for student specific issues. Come to the table with ideas and guide the session with the following fundamental issues:

  • What are the content goals/objectives?
  • Who are the learners?
  • Where do we anticipate the students will struggle?
  • In what areas do we anticipate the students will excel?
  • How can we teach the goals/objectives most effectively?

By effectively co-planning and utilizing differentiated instructional strategies that promote student engagement, teachers will have a substantial impact on achievement for all learners.