Co-Teaching and Universal Design for Learning Reaching Every Student Through Collaboration

What is Co-Teaching? Co-teaching occurs when two or more certified teachers jointly deliver substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space.

Co-teaching Co-teaching is a service delivery option for providing specialized instruction to which students with disabilities, those who are English language learners, or those who have other special needs are entitled while ensuring access to the general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment.

WHY Co-Teaching? When students are taught in separate settings, they miss significant segments of instruction in the general education classroom. This can increase the intensity of their needs. Students have a difficult time generalizing what is learned in one setting to another. When professionals work together, they share their knowledge and skills and become more effective educators. Instruction can be richer, deeper, and tailored to each students’ needs. Students in co-taught classrooms have better opportunities to learn social, behavioral, and cultural norms.

Roles of Co-Teachers General education teachers contribute content expertise Specialists contribute expertise on many dimensions of the process of learning Co-teachers share instructional responsibility and accountability for a single group of students for whom they both have ownership

Co-Teaching Models One Teach, One Observe Station Teaching Parallel Teaching Alternative Teaching Teaming One Teach, One Assist

One Teach, One Observe One teacher leads instruction, the other teacher gathers data regarding students’ academic progress, behavior or social skills, or responsiveness to teacher directions Data gathered should be used in instructional decision making Web Sites/Electronic Resources Google Sheets, www.pinterest.com/amandaalice/data-collection-for-the- classroom/ Apps Class Dojo, Tally Counter, Psych Tools, Teacher’s Assistant Pro, Super Duper Data Tracker Should be used for a short period of time but frequently Recommended 5-10%

Station Teaching Teachers divide content and students Each teacher teaches content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction for other groups Instruction content cannot be sequential; stations must be able to be completed in any order Many variations of groupings are possible Independent work/technology can be incorporated as a 3rd station Instructional intensity increases with students working in small groups Recommended 40%

Parallel Teaching Teachers divide class in two groups Avoid creating a “high” and “low” group Both teachers teach same information simultaneously Both teachers must be comfortable with teaching the material Allows for high-quality differentiation Increases students’ opportunities to respond Recommended: 30%

Alternative Teaching One teacher instructs the larger group One teacher works with smaller group Can be used for re-teaching or remediation, enrichment, pre- teaching, instructional make-up time, assessment of student learning, management of student behavior To avoid stigma of pulling a small group to the back of a classroom, both professionals can teach small group Recommended: 15%

Teaming Both teachers deliver same instruction at the same time Also known as “tag team teaching” or “one brain in two bodies” Activities can be engaging and exciting for students Models collaboration for students Some instructional intensity can be lost as a result of mostly large- group instruction There is a risk of high level teacher talk Recommended: 10-15%

One teach, One Assist One teacher holds primary responsibility for instruction Other teacher circulates room providing unobtrusive assistance Used when new co-teachers are learning other’s teaching style Research shows this is used most often but is the least effective Students may gain a increased dependence on this assistance Recommended: <10%

Planning Periodic face-to-face planning Electronic planning Important, but should be period, directed towards data interpretations, analyze past instruction, plan future instruction Electronic planning Used to compliment face-to-face planning *See planning resources on next slide On-the-stop planning Sometimes plans go awry. Have procedure in place for students to follow while you briefly meet to avoid loss of instructional time

Planning resources Evernote (evernote.com) On-line Planbook (https://planbook.com/) Google shared calendar Google docs Trello

What is Universal Design for Learning? Universal Design for Learning or “UDL” is a framework for collaboration. When added to the collaboration that is already established through co-teaching, UDL helps to ensure that all student in the class are involved in the learning process. Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. It is research based and research driven to continue to improve the goals for all students in their learning.

WHY UDL?? Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. It is research based and research driven to continue to improve the goals for all students in their learning.

3 ways to “draw” students in with UDL Provide multiple means of Engagement---this allows learners to be purposeful and motivated. Provide multiple means of Representation---this allows learners to be resourceful and knowledgeable. Provide multiple means of Action and Expression---this allows learner to be strategic and goal directed.

AND GUESS WHAT??? You are probably doing this anyway and don’t realize it is UDL. UDL is best practice for all classrooms!

VIDEO from Cast.org

Questions/Comments/Ideas Information about co-teaching obtained from the 2017 CEC Conference Presenter: Dr. Marilyn Friend