1. The Power of 2: Co-Teaching Best Practices
“Collaborative educational programs require people to work together to invent opportunities and solutions that maximize experiences for ALL CHILDREN.” - Thousands (1994)
The Power of 2: Co-Teaching Best Practices
HCPS Math Staff Development Day
October 10, 2016

2. Session Objectives
Analyze common co-teaching scenarios to identify strategies for co-teaching teams in the following areas:
Joint Instructional Involvement
Partnership Dynamics
Assessment and Student Performance
Flexible Grouping and Coordinated Pull-out
Identify pros and cons of each co-teaching model and apply models to appropriate instructional situations.

3. Collaboration vs. Co-Teaching
•The interaction among professionals as they work toward a common goal.
•Teachers do not necessarily have to engage in co-teaching in order to collaborate.
Co-Teaching
•A service delivery option with two or more professionals sharing responsibility for a group of students for some or all of the school day in order to combine their expertise to meet student needs.
•A model for instruction to help students access a rigorous general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment.

4. Why should I Co-Teach?
The use of co-teaching promotes a collaborative model in which general and special educators share responsibility for the achievement of all students in the general education classroom through active co-teaching, collaboration, and implementation of inclusive and research-based practices.

5. A Tale of Two Teachers: Co-teaching Scenarios
Travel in your groups through the 4 corners where co- teaching scenarios are posted. Identify and list strengths and opportunities for growth in each scenario on the chart paper located in each corner.

6. Scenario A
Context: Mrs. G (GE teacher) and Ms. B (EE teacher) co-teach two Civics classes. Mrs. G is the Civics team leader and has historically had one of the highest SOL pass rates. She teaches non-collaborative sections of Civics as well. Observation Summary: As the class begins, Mrs. G is asking the students to share their answers to the bell ringer. Mrs. G then goes to the board and leads the class in a flipchart presentation on the procedures for amending the Constitution. She goes through several examples. Ms. B is monitoring students’ work on their papers and answers questions individually as necessary. Mrs. G calls on 4 different students to come to the board and manipulate an activity on the flip chart. She then summarizes the steps and lists them on the board, calling on students for input. Ms. B roams and redirects off-task students to the front of the room. The class is then assigned a worksheet with 8 questions. They work on this for the remainder of the class period. Both teachers roam and assist students as needed.

7. Strategies for Joint Instructional Involvement
Specified roles during co-planning; identified number of embedded learning strategies per class period and included in lesson plans
Ex: vocabulary routines, graphic organizers, memory devices, note-takers
Division of lead-teaching responsibilities according to segments of class (e.g., teacher who did not lead DI the previous day leads warm-up the next)
“Roamer” is data collector; data informs instruction for subsequent class periods
Alternative models: small group instruction, parallel teaching, stations- selected by appropriateness to content

8. Scenario B
Context: Ms. C (GE teacher) and Mr. W (EE teacher) are first year collaborators. Ms. C is a 3rd year teacher and teaches Social Studies 7. Mr. W has been at your school for 10 years. Until this year, he taught only self-contained courses. Observation Summary: Students are seated in groups where they have been asked to work together to create a product that demonstrates the factors influencing westward expansion. Ms. C has given the class the period to work on activities. Approximately 50% of the students appear on task. Mr. W is sitting with a group of students who have IEPs whom he has identified as “the work being over their heads”. He tells the students not to worry about creating the product, but instead they can make a list of the reasons. Ms. C values rigor and grading practices that hold students accountable. She does not accept late work or provide partial credit if students do not complete their entire assignment in the time allotted. Mr. W feels that Ms. C is “too hard” and has asked to grade the assignments for certain students with IEPs, where he plans to “curve” by adding additional points. He will often write passes for students to come “work with him” to complete assignments outside of class, during extended study period. Ms. C plans and delivers the majority of lessons.

9. Strategies for Partnership Dynamics
Focus on the students!
Regularly scheduled planning/ student performance review meetings- these may need to be structured or supported
Ex. Ed. teacher supplements project-based learning or less structured activities with creation of rubric, supplemental handouts that provide structure (both teachers review in advance).
Specific delineation of planning roles (e.g., ex. ed. teacher plans and leads test review activities)
“Focus” of planning contributions; reflected in weekly plans
Use of small group pullout, based on pre-assessment

10. Scenario C
Context: Mr. H (GE teacher) and Ms. D (EE teacher) have taught together for 4 years and are both proficient with US/VA content. They meet regularly and both teachers have been observed in the lead-teaching role. Observation Summary: Mr. H and Ms. D are team teaching about the visions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Mr. H lectures on Jefferson’s vision. Then, Ms. D shares info on Hamilton. The class goes over the key concepts of each. The class is assigned to pretend that they are running for President of the US and write a campaign speech in which they utilize the perspectives of both Hamilton and Jefferson. A rubric to assess understanding is applied. After grading this assignment 50% of students scored on the rubric on a level that indicates they demonstrated understanding of the visions of both Hamilton and Jefferson. Additionally, 4 of the 8 SWD scored below 40%.

11. Strategies for Assessment and Student Performance
Differentiated items/ individualized assessments (use of Interactive Achievement when applicable)
Supported assessments: scaffolding, use of visuals, task analyses - remember “end” goal
Build self-monitoring/ metacognition into test items (e.g., require (for points) certain students to highlight, pre-write, identify first step before solving)
Utilize small group, extended study periods, warm-ups, homework assignments to asses for and re-teach skill gaps/ prerequisite skills (vertical articulation)
Emphasis on “I do, We do, You do.” Students were not provided opportunities for structured guided practice—that was not explicit in the group work.

12. Scenario D
Context: Mrs. M (GE teacher) and Mrs. R (EE teacher) are 2nd year World History 1 collaborators. They work well together but it is most common for Mrs. R to pull out a group of students and deliver the same content. The teachers share that once Mrs. R became comfortable with the activities and lessons, it works best for her to take the neediest students (GE and EE) and go over the lesson in a room across the hall. Observation Summary: Lesson plans indicate that the class consists of students receiving direct instruction with modeling on how to locate Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus River Valley and China on maps and globes and the meaning behind key vocabulary terms related to this unit. The lesson begins with Mrs. R indicating to 8 of the 24 students that they will be coming with her. She takes the students to the alternative location and goes through the same lesson that Mrs. M is teaching in the gen ed classroom. The direct instruction consists of the same flipchart, common among the World History 1 team. All students turn in the vocab crossword puzzle they completed before the end of class.

13. Strategies for Flexible Grouping and Coordinated Pull-out
Use of formative assessment data to form groups
Division of class content by teacher proficiency/ preferences; parallel teaching should be deliberate
Vary which teacher pulls out and which group of students leave; protects anonymity, preserves feeling “ a part” of class
Provide for student choice when possible; vary activities according to learning styles/ preferences
Use a variety of grouping strategies, including those that appear random, and are random for appropriate tasks
Point out that parallel teaching should incorporate students’ individual learning styles—groupings should be based on SLS, formative assessment data, etc. Provide options for addressing the same content in a different manner…

15. One Teach, One Assist •Drawbacks •Strengths •Teacher parity
•One as the teacher and the other as an assistant or aide; not seen as equal
•Never should be the primary approach/model used
•Strengths
•Allows for individual support during whole group lessons
•Additional differentiation during whole group instruction

16. One Teach, One Observe •Drawbacks •Strengths •Limited use
•Teachers need to agree on what data is being collected
•Strengths
•Provides for data collection to support data-driven decision making for instruction
•Professional support for teachers to collect data on each other to improve aspect of class/instruction

17. Team Teaching •Drawbacks •Strengths •Decreased instructional intensity
•Can impede flow off class, if teachers cannot get proper “give and take” discourse established
•Strengths
•Offers varied approaches to students and different points of view
•Makes it clear to the students that BOTH are teachers
•Avenue for differing teaching styles to reach various students and keep them engaged

18. Parallel Teaching •Drawbacks •Strengths
•Both teachers have to have mastery of the content being taught
•Timing of groups/lesson needs to be in sync
•Strengths
•Smaller groups of students
•Increased possibility for behavior management
•Varied perspectives can be presented on same topic
•Shared workload

19. Alternative Teaching •Drawbacks •Strengths
•Can develop a negative connotation
•Static grouping
•Strengths
•Instruction can be designed for specific instruction

20. Station Teaching •Drawbacks •Strengths •Group pacing
•Student independence
•Noise level
•Strengths
•Both teachers are engaged
•Increased instructional intensity
•Group/station individualization

21. Apply It!