Cote Aching 2 is Better Than 1

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The Coteaching

In

classrooms

filled withstudents with a varietyof

learning

needs, two

teachers

can be betterthan one.

Marilyn Friend

M

ana and Carol havebeen working withtheir 3rd graders onusing adject-ives inspoken and writtenlanguage. One strareg)' they used was afishbone diagi'ain. Maria read a shortstory to the entire group. Then Carolasked the class to agree on a favoritecharacter, and she wrote the character'sname on the head of the fish. Together,the teachers coached the students to useadjectives fo describe that character andwrote these words on the bones ol lhefish. For additional practice, the twoteachers gave each student a fishbonediagram and divided the class into twogroups. Carol read one story with hergroup while Maria read a different storywith hers. Each student chose a charac-ter, filled in his or her diagram with ad-jectives, and then shared the resultswith a partner from the group. What thestudents did not realize is that Maria'sgroup read a simpler story than Carol'sgroup did.During a unii on the Industrial Revo-lution and urbanization in their block-scheduled

U.S.

History class, coteachersMark and Celeste divided their studentsinto three groups. One group workedwith Mark to explore the effects of late-19th-century inventions on Americansociety Celeste led her group in a discus-sion of

The

Jungle

by Upton Sinclair. Thethird group of students watched a shonvideo on the era, examined materialsfrom the local historical society, andwrote questions they wanted the class todiscuss about what life was like at thattime. Each 25 minutes, the groups ro-tated so that all students participated inall the activities during the class period.The teachers spent the last few minutesof class leading a whole-class discussionof what students had learned. As the bellrang, one student eagerly asked, "Whatare we going to leam about tomorrow?"Coteaching arrangements like theseare one promising option for meetingthe learning needs of the many studentswho once speni a large part ol the schoolday with special educators in separate

48 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/FEBRUARY

2007

Partnership

classrooms. First described in the 1970s(Warwick, 1971), classroom partner-ships specifically designed to reach stu-dents with disabilities became morecommonplace in the 1980s (Bauwens,Hourcade, & Friend, 1989). Today'smandates for inclusion have brought newappeal to this approach. In coteaching,two teachers of equivalent professionalstatus, most often a classroom teacherand a special education teacber, shareinstructional responsibility for a diversegroup of students that usually includesseveral with disabilities or other specialneeds.Coteaching partnerships are uniquefor several reasons. First, unlike partner-ships in which iwo educators blend two

class

groups—as when two 5th gradeteachers open the movable wall betweentheir classrooms—coteaching dramati-cally improves the student-teacher ratio.Instead of one teacher for 25 students oriwo teachers for 50, the ratio becomestwo teachers for 25 (or possibly just afew more) students.Second, the two professionals in co-taught classes bring unique areas of em-phasLs 10 tbe partnership (Dieker, 2001).Tbe classroom teacher focuses on

content

and the curriculum. The special educa-tor or specialist focuses on the learning

process,

helping students acquire, re-member, and demonstrate knowledgeand skills. When these two types of ex-pertise are hiended, students benefit(Murray, 2004).

Understanding the Challenges

If coteaching is so valuable, why isn't itan option in every school? ConsideriliL'sc comments from teachers in schoolsimplementing coteaching:• The special educator I work withsays she doesn't really know the curricu-lum and is uncomfortable participatingin instmction. I'm not sure what she'ssupposed to do.• The classroom teacher told me that Ishouldn't talk during instruction. Hetold me that after he finished, I couldwalk around to help "my" students. I feellike a teaching assistant.• We never have a chance to plan, soit's not a really a partnership.These comments illustrate why someschool leaders are reluctant to establishcoteaching programs and why somecoteaching arrangements are unsuccess-ful. This complex means of reachingstruggling learners relies on carefulplanning, implementation, and mainte-nance. But wilh the proper planningand support, coteaching can benefitteachers and students alike.

Coteaching in Context

Coteaching is most ei'leciive when it isan integral component of a school's ef-forts to pro\'ide all students with the ed-ucation they are eniiiled to. Coteachingshould be part of a school culture thatencourages professionals to work to-gether to achieve shared goals (Earth,2006).In addition, coteaching is a way toprovide services to students within aninclusive school. Such a school wel-comes all students, whatever theirstrengths and struggles, and commits tohelping all students leam, Ai! teacbers,not jusi a few, contribute to an inclusiveschool culture. This dedication to stu-dent learning should translate into spe-cific actions. For example, one highschool principal decided to assign a co-taught class to any teacher assigned loan advanced placement class.Professionals should keep in mindthat coteaching is only one of severalbeneficial options for supporting stu-dents in an inclusive school. Some stu-dents with disabilities need the structureand intensity of small-group settings toraise achievement. Nothing aboutcoteaching implies thai schools shouldeliminate such approaches.

ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 49

Teacher and AdministratorFears and Expectations

Adrainistratore oflen rely on volunteerswho agree to coteach. Although it seetnsthat nearly all teachers would welcomethe opportunity for this type of collaho-ration, some are reluctant. Classroomteachers may fear that special educatorswill judge their teaching. Spe-cial educators may worry thaiothers will question the valueot their work, or even that theirjobs might be eliminated.After several years, partici-pating teachers may desire abreak from coteaching but findthai no one is willing to takeover. Potential new coteachersmay be reluctant to volunteerfor fear that they could notcoieach as well as those withmore experience. Principals caneliminate some of these recruit-ment problems by graduallybut firmly establishing the ex-pectation that any teacher inthe school might be asked to partnerwith a specialLst, although not necessarilyevery year, Ideally, coteaching becomes astandard for practice that is integral to aschool's effons to reach all students.

Professional Developmentand Preparation

Prolessional dc\'clopmenl is essential forcreating and sustaining coteaching. AllstalT members should begin with a basicunderstanding of it, and partners shouldhave the opportunity to leam abouicoteaching expectations and discuss es-sential topics. Teachers need to establishthe roies and responsibilities each personwill have in the cotaught classroom(Wasbum-Moses, 2005) by, for example,discussing how to ensure that they bothassume acbve instructional roles thaimaximize each ones contribution toteaching and learning. If die special edu-cator does not have extensive experiencewith the subject matter, as might happenin middle or high school, the partnersshould outline what the special educa-tor's classroom role will be—^and whenthat teacher might comfortably lead in-struction. For example, the special edu-cator might lead the class in completing areview, give directions, and demonstratereal-world applications of

concepts.

Mostimportant, the coteachers should discusshow to make sure that the instructionappears seamless to students and thatboth teachers work with

al!

studentseven while addressing individual needs.Coteachers should also outline howthey will address common classroom is-sues such as discipline and grading. Theymight discuss their priorities in terms ofstudent behavior and clarify that bothteachers will address any discipline prob-lems they notice using their agreed-uponclassroom expectations. For grading, thecoteachers might begin by duplicatingseveral students' assignments and grad-ing them independently to check thattheir judgments are consistent; they canthen share this classroom task. They alsoshould discuss how they will make deci-sions about report card grades for siu-denis, keeping in mind accommodationson students' individualized educationprograms (IEPs).Once they complete initial staff devel-opment, coteachers often benefit fromvisiting classrooms with model coteach-ing practices already in place or partici-pating in peer observations to exchangefeedback on their classroom practices.They also might create a professionallearning community so that they can pe-riodically meet with other coteachers todiscuss their accomplishments and chal-lenges and to trade ideas. This ongoingsupport helps teachers reflect on coteach-ing. resolve problems, and experimentwith new approaches.The staicture of coteaching providesexcellent suppon to studentsv/ilh disabilities or other specialneeds—as well as to studentswho struggle but have neverbeen identified as having specialneeds.However, teachers in co-taught classes must be sure thattheir academic content, instruc-tional strategies, and behaviormanagement plans are researchbased and effectively imple-mented. The strength ofcoteaching comes from themany opponunities to use inno-I vative practices that would beI far less practical in a classroomwith just one teacher. See lj^ad-ership Tips for Coteaching Pro-grams (p. 51) for more ways to create andsustain an effective coleaching program.

Logistical Concerns

When I ask teachers lo list their concemsrelated to coteaching, the first item is al-most always shared planning time. Mostcoteachers would like a planning sessionevery day, or at least every week. If dailyor weekly sessions aren't feasible, admin-istrators need to find creative ways tomake at least periodic planrung a reality.Some administrators arrange for co-teachers to receive continuing educationcredits for participating in after-schoolplanning sessions. Others offer coteachersa small monthly stipend that acknowl-edges the additional planning inherent inthis model. Ifsubstitute leachers can filiin so that teachers can be released fromclassroom duties, teachers can occasion-ally plan during the school day.The second logistics matter concemsscheduling. First, principals shouldgroup students in such a way ihai qualitycoteaching is feasible. For example, sev-eral 4th grade students with special

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2007

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