Notes: Coteaching

Cooperative Teaching Model

• collaboration - a way of thinking, planning, sharing, and working together and when 2 or more people work together to accomplish a common purpose
• Coteaching - educational model where general and special education teachers are simultaneously present in the same classroom and share instructional duties
• 5 elements whose presence defines Coteaching (according to Hourcade & Bauwens, 2003)
• cooperative presence - teachers physically present in the classroom together
• cooperative planning - teachers regularly design and prepare lessons together
• cooperative presenting - teachers actively involved in class instruction
• cooperative  processing - teachers are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the results of instruction
• cooperative problem solving - teachers work together to solve classroom issues

Benefits of Coteaching

• provides opportunities for students with disabilities to access the general education curriculum, a requirement of IDEA, while receiving support from a special education educator
• opportunities to monitor students for learning and behavior
• improved academic achievement for students with disabilities
• better access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities

Research Base for Coteaching

• Coteaching classrooms tend to have large classrooms
• lack of training and preparation for teachers wishing to participate in Coteaching
• lack of shared planning time
• lack of administrative support for this teaching model

Before Beginning a Coteaching Model

• attend Coteaching workshops as team
• request common planning time
• put both teachers' name on the board, handouts, notes to families and exams
• become familiar with content standards
• learn about each other's strengths and weaknesses

Selection of Coteachers

• teachers must be able to communicate, get along well, share common beliefs, and desire to work as a team
• professional competence
• personal confidence
• respect of colleagues
• professional enthusiasm respect for each others skills and contributions
• good communication and problem solving skills
• personal interest in professional growth
• flexibility and openness to new ideas
• effective organizational skills
• previously experience with teaming with others
• willingness to invest time in the process as needed
• commitment to planning weekly with each other
• voluntary participation in Coteaching

Strengthening Coteaching Relationships

• outstanding working relationship
• strengths as motivators
• time of coplanning
• continued communication
• effective instructional skills
• disability-specific teaching adaptation
• expertise in the content area
• appropriate curriculum
• important in designing cooperative teaching programs
• belief and vision
• classroom space
• documentation
• conflict resolution
• initial and ongoing professional development
• fluid and open lines of communication
• standards and practice
• data collection and review
• program evaluation
• time

Coteaching Models

• Whole class Models
• teaming - both teachers actively engage in teaching the whole class, alternate instructional lead
• one teach, one observe- teaches lesson, observes students response and takes data
• one teach, one assist - teaches lesson, helps students or prepares materials
• Divided Class Model
• station teaching - students divided up and rotates through stations, each teacher at the station covers different content
• parallel teaching - students divided up evenly, teachers will instruct small groups the same lesson
• alternative teaching - teacher instructs small group of less than half of the class on a topic, while the other instructs the larger group on another topic

Roles of School Personnel in Coteaching

• paraprofessionals - provide assistance and supports for students, usually focusing on students with disabilities who are in the general education classrooms
• administration - assisting in scheduling, assigning students to the classrooms, ensuring an appropriate number of students in cotaught classrooms, creating planning time opportunities for Coteachers, considering the time requirements for Coteachers when assigning extra duties, providing opportunities for Coteachers to attend professional developments together
• other valuable resources on Coteaching teams include; school counselors, physical and occupational therapist, behavior intervention specialist, speech-language pathologist, school nurses, and vocational rehabilitation specialist

Strategies Used in Implementing Coteaching

• share their core beliefs concerning teaching
• share their dreams for the classroom
• share their vision of how the classroom will function
• establish classroom expectations
• discuss ownership of students
• discuss parity issues
• discuss how regular feedback to each other will take place
• determine roles and responsibilities for each other
• determine space usage
• determine grading responsibilities and expectation
• determine classroom rules and procedures
• determine behavioral expectations and consequences

Evaluating Cooperative Teaching

• effective way to determine how the model is working