Six Models of Co-Teaching
Co-teaching involves two or more certified professionals who share instructional responsibility for a single group of students. This occurs primarily in a classroom or workspace, for specific content or objectives, and with mutual ownership, pooled resources, and joint accountability.
This section includes six models for co-teaching from Marilyn Friend and William D. Bursuck (Including Students with Special Needs: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers, 2009). Models should be selected based on the needs of the classroom, the purpose of the instruction, and the complexity of the content. Each team of co-teachers needs to discuss their goals for co-teaching and ensure that both teacher’s talents and skills are recognized and represented.
Parallel Teaching
With the parallel teaching model, both teachers cover the same information. They divide the class into two groups and teach simultaneously. The strength of the format is that it enables teachers to work with smaller numbers of students. And it provides all students an opportunity for individualized and hands-on learning.
Parallel teaching may be used in many ways. It is an excellent format to use in science lessons, particularly those with experiments, because teachers are working with a smaller number of students and have a better chance of controlling the variables. This strategy should be used frequently.
Station Teaching
Station teaching is a good format to use in any curricular area. For example, in an English language arts lesson, the students, who are working in small groups, rotate through one of three stations. The teachers teach two stations (e.g., grammar and spelling) while other students work independently on narrative writing activities. This strategy should be used frequently.
Alternative Teaching
Alternative teaching is an exceptional format to provide students with more intense and individualized instruction in a specific academic area. For example, many students have difficulty solving word problems. Therefore, one teacher can provide them with explicit instruction on solving word problems twice weekly for 15–20 minutes per session, while the other teacher works on other word problem-solving activities with the remaining students in the class. This strategy should be used occasionally.
Team Teaching
Team teaching can be used in any academic subject, especially when presenting new material. In this instance, the co-teachers set up the lesson to question one another when a difficult concept is presented, thereby taking the pressure off the students who may have difficulty understanding the new material. This structure also helps the teachers support each other as they present the material to ensure they addressed all steps and accurately reinforced the concepts. This strategy should be used occasionally.
One Teach, One Observe
One teach, one observe is an excellent strategy to implement during the first few weeks of school. It may be used during any lesson to determine which students are contributing to the lesson, as well as to identify students who need extra encouragement and support to contribute to class discussions. This method also may be used to collect student data, monitor, and support student behavior, and write and evaluate students’ individualized education program objectives in preparation for meetings with parents and colleagues. This strategy should be limited.
One Teach, One Assist
One Teach, One Assist is an excellent strategy to check for student understanding. For example, during a math lesson, while one teacher is teaching, the other teacher can provide additional one-to-one assistance, such as reminding students about the first step to solve a problem, prompting students’ use of a diagram to help understand the problem, or providing the definition of a concept to address students’ difficulties and to ensure their understanding of the new material. This strategy should be used seldomly.
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