High Fidelity Co-Teaching Through Collaboration, Varied Co-Teaching Models, and Differentiated Teaching Strategies

Chapter Objectives

• 1.

  Discuss the legislative acts and presence of students in general education environments that have led to the growth of co-teaching over time.

• 2.

  Understand specific considerations for co-teaching partners to increase the likelihood of the success of the co-taught classroom.

• 3.

  Understand characteristics that can prevent co-teaching team success and ways to establish a collaborative co-teaching relationship that is voluntary and characterized by parity, mutual goals, shared responsibility, decision making, resources, and accountability.

• 4.

  Explain and describe the different co-teaching models of Friend and Bursuck (2009) to include; one teach/one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching.

• 5.

  Discuss the overlapping of differentiated instruction with the co-teaching models to include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and explicit instruction.

Introduction

Co-teaching is a service delivery option for students receiving special education services that is characterized by the presence of both a general education and special education teacher providing support in an inclusive classroom (Murawski & Dieker, 2008). The purpose of this option is to provide access to the general education curriculum to students with disabilities while they are simultaneously being supported by a special education teacher. Further, co-teaching provides another option on the continuum of services for students with disabilities that considers the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for the student (IDEA, 2004). A successful co-teaching partnership is one in which the teachers “co-plan, co-instruct, and co-assess a diverse group of students in the same general education classroom” (Murawski, 2005, p. 10). There are six co-teaching models that can be implemented in the classroom; however, before the selection and application of co-teaching models can occur, there are other factors that a co-teaching partnership should consider. In order to establish the foundation for effective co-teaching, a collaborative relationship must be established. From there, co-teaching partners can then begin planning for the use of different models and specific strategies that best complement instruction. Upon receiving an initial teaching assignment, teachers can be assigned to any type of classroom and unfortunately, pre-service teachers may not have received any training as it relates to the co-taught classroom (King-Sears et al., 2014; Moin et al., 2009). Pre-service teachers need to be prepared to effectively vary co-teaching models and implement specific research-based practices in a co-taught classroom so that students have a greater opportunity to receive the benefits of having two teachers in the classroom (Brawand and King-Sears, 2017). In order to achieve a successful co-taught classroom, pre-service teachers should also understand how to navigate and nurture collaborative relationships.