Co-teaching

Co-teaching is when two educators work together to plan, organize, instruct and make assessments on the same group of students, sharing the same classroom.[1] This approach can be seen in several ways. Teacher candidates who are learning to become teachers are asked to co-teach with experienced associate teachers, whereby the classroom responsibilities are shared, and the teacher candidate can learn from the associate teacher.[2] Regular classroom teachers and special education teachers can be paired in co-teaching relationships to benefit inclusion of students with special needs.[3]

Most recently, in Ontario the Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program has been implemented where an Ontario Certified Teacher and a Registered Early Childhood Educator co-teach in a kindergarten classroom.[4]

To evaluate the effectiveness of co-teaching, partnerships can use the Magiera-Simmons Quality Indicator Model of Co-Teaching, which gives standard definitions for co-teaching skills through 25 quality indicators and a rating scale.[5] Co-teaching is often evaluated on the amount of shared leadership is present, the amount of co-planning time, honest communication between the two educators, and how much respect and trust is present in the relationship.[6]

Research

Research on the effectiveness of co-teaching has yielded mixed results.

As a delivery model for special education services, one study found important strategies were infrequently observed in this model, and the special education teacher played a subordinate role. Thomas E. Scruggs, Margo A. Mastropieri. George Mason University. "Co-Teaching in Inclusive Classrooms: A Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research" Exceptional Children July 2007 vol. 73 no. 4 392-416 [7]

Another study reviewed student outcomes via a resource room model and co-teaching. It found resource room delivery superior in terms of academic progress.[8] Other research has shown that the results of co-teaching benefit both the educators and the students.[9][10] but the study lacked long-term data.

One author reviewed eight studies of students impressions of co-teaching, and found the majority preferred receiving services outside of the classroom for part of the day, noting they formed a better relationship with their special education teacher and understood content better in specialized instruction within a resource room.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Hartnett, Joanie; Weed, Rahila; McCoy, Ann; Theiss, Deb; Nickens, Nicole (2013). "Co-Teaching: A New Partnership During Student Teaching" (PDF). SRATE Journal 23 (1): 1–12.
  2. ↑ Cherian, Finney (1 January 2007). "Learning to Teach: Teacher Candidates Reflect on the Relational, Conceptual, and Contextual Influences of Responsive Mentorship". Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation 30 (1): 25–46. doi:10.2307/20466624.
  3. ↑ Friend, M.; Cook, L.; Hurley-Chamberlain, D.; Shamberger, C. (2010). "Co-teaching: An illustration of the complexity of collaboration in special education.". Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 20 (1): 9–27.
  4. ↑ The Full-Day Early Learning – Kindergarten Program 2010-11 (PDF) (draft version ed.). Toronto: Ontario, Ministry of Education. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4435-3497-0.
  5. ↑ Simmons, R. J.; Magiera, K. (2007). "Evaluation of Co-Teaching in Three High Schools within One School District: How Do You Know when You Are TRULY Co-Teaching?". TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus 3 (3): 1–12.
  6. ↑ Bacharach, Nancy L.; Heck, Teresa Washut; Dahlberg, Kathryn (March 2008). "What Makes Co-Teaching Work? Identifying the Essential Elements". College Teaching Methods & Styles Journal 4 (3): 43–48. ISSN 1548-9566.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Murawski, W. (2006). Student outcomes in co-taught secondary English classes: Howc an we improve?Reading & Writing Quarterly, 22, 227–247
  9. ↑ Chanmugam, Amy; Gerlach, Beth (2013). "A Co-Teaching Model for Developing Future Educators' Teaching Effectiveness" (PDF). International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 25 (1): 110–117. ISSN 1812-9129.
  10. ↑ Walther-Thomas, C. S. (1 July 1997). "Co-Teaching Experiences: The Benefits and Problems That Teachers and Principals Report Over Time". Journal of Learning Disabilities 30 (4): 395–407. doi:10.1177/002221949703000406.
  11. ↑ Students' Perceptions of Inclusion and Resource Room Settings.Sharon Vaughn.Journal of Special Education. Summer 1998 vol. 32 no. 2 79-88
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