What are the major concerns of your team? (List them in priority order.)
1.
2.
3
STRENGTHS AND CONCERNS SURVEY
What Are the Strengths and Concerns of Our Co-Teaching Team? Check the appropriate column.
Take this survey as individuals initially, then work with your co-teacher on the two questions at the bottom of
the page
Essential Element
Description
Totally Somewhat Not Yet
True
True
The Partnership
Both co-teachers have equal voice in
the planning, teaching, and grading
Collaborative Relationship
The Partnership:
Both co-teachers are seen as experts
Expertise of Co-Teachers is fully used in the classroom
The Partnership: Has Parity
Both teachers share the classroom
space, all students, and decisions
equally
The Partnership:
When there are differences of
Has a Plan to Resolve Conflict.
opinion, the issue is directly
confronted as soon as possible
Time for Collaboration is Provided
The district provides definite
planning time during the school day.
The Classroom Climate Supports Co
All students ask questions of both
teaching Practices
co-teachers equally
The classroom has a balance of all
The Classroom Is Heterogeneous
levels of achievement; it’s not a
“low level” class
The Classroom Has Appropriate
Co-teaching is completely supported
Space and Materials
with materials for all students
Whole class teaching with the coThe Classroom:
teacher assisting is NOT the main
The Co-teaching Models Are Varied
model
The Whole School Climate Supports
It is clear that the co-teaching model
Co-teaching, Inclusion and Teaching
is considered an important support
All Students.
both for students with needs and for
general education student.
TOTAL EACH COLUMN
What are the major strengths of your team? (List them in priority order)
1.
2.
3
Your notes
GROUP 1: WHOLE CLASS
Model I: Supportive Co-Teaching (Whole Group): One Teaches/One Observes
Strengths:
 This supportive model is good to use as the co-teachers begin a new coteaching relationship to allow a new co-teacher to observe the classroom of her
colleague
 This model can be used occasionally to focus on a specific aspect of the class
or a specific student with a planned sharing of observations to consider
possible instructional interventions or modifications. Those interested in
learning more about effective peer observation may wish to read the peer
observation section found in chapter 11 of this book.
 Co-teachers can alternate the teaching and observing roles to gain better
understandings of the class and its individual students as well as of the
teaching style, strengths, and expertise of their co-teacher
 Co-teachers can use this model to observe one another and provide valuable
feedback on their teaching. Those who wish to learn more about peer
observation should read the peer observation section in chapter 11.
Challenges:
 Unless these two leading and supporting roles are reversed the Specialist
Educator (SE) can become more of an instructional aide.
 If this method is used because of a lack of co-planning time, the SE may not
clearly understand the goals of the class
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and, as a result, lacks depth.
 The skills of the second teacher may not be fully used throughout the class and
may be limited to her target students or students who ask for her assistant
Model I: Supportive Co-Teaching (Whole Group): One Teaches/One Drifts
Strengths:
 This whole class model is useful as the co-teachers are establishing a coteaching relationship and the new co-teacher observes the classroom
 This model can be used occasionally when one teacher is directly teaching and
the other gathers data and assists students throughout the lesson
 Co-teachers can alternate the teaching/drifting role to signal shared
responsibility for teaching all students
Challenges:
 If this model is the favored model for co-teaching, it can indicate that direct
teaching is the primary instructional method
 Unless these two leading and supporting roles are reversed, the SE can become
more of an instructional aide.
 If this method is used because of a lack of co-planning time, the SE may not
clearly understand the goals of the class
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and lacks depth.
 The skills of the second teacher may not be fully used throughout the class and
may be limited to her target students or only students who ask for help
Model I: Supportive Co-Teaching (Whole Group): One Teaches/One Assists or
Supports
Strengths:
 This model is often the “default” model when the team does not have time to
co-plan

This model is typical when a content teacher teaches and plans in isolation and
a special educator supports students at times without taking part in planning or
goal setting
 This can be a useful model when the co-teachers have limited planning time or
specialist does not work in the classroom every day
 After the direct teaching is concluded, both teachers assist and support
students
 The assisting teacher can provide the teacher who is teaching with
misconceptions or questions for students
 The assisting teacher can take notes or fill in a graphic organizer on the
overhead while the other teacher teaches the lesson
Challenges:
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and lacks depth.
 The assisting teacher can have a relatively passive role
 The skills of the second teacher may not be fully used throughout the class and
may be limited to her target students or those who ask for help
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and lacks depth unless the team has time to collaborate
Model I: Supportive Co-Teaching (Whole Group): Adapting Curriculum Approach
Strengths:
 One teacher takes the lead and the other makes modifications as the occasion
presents itself perhaps because of a student’s look of confusion or a specific
question
 Co-teachers may develop a tool kit that can be used to support needed
adaptations or modifications for specific students which may include sticky
notes, index cards, manipulatives, highlighters, a calculator, a spell checker,
for example
 The model requires very little planning time
 Roles are clearly defined with a lead teacher doing the majority of the teaching
and a support teacher providing assistance only
 The method provides accommodations and the specialist is focused on her area
of expertise
Challenges
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and lacks depth.
 The skills of the second teacher may not be fully used throughout the class and
may be limited to her target students
GROUP 2: MODEL II; PARALLEL TEACHING: STATION TEACHING
Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small Group Instruction)
In the Parallel Co-Teaching Model, both educators teach students at the same time.
The activity within the groups distinguish each model.
1) In Station Teaching student groups move through two or more learning stations
two of which are taught or facilitated by one of the co-teachers. If the classroom have
more than two stations, students will be able to navigate the independent tasks without
teacher direction either because the station is part of a familiar classroom routine of
the task is clearly explained by the instructions at the station. For example, the station
could be a computer or group of computers and the student group could work through
a program on which they have had prior experience or the station could be a video
which the student group views and takes note.
Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small Group Instruction): Station Teaching
Strengths:
 Learning centers are used to organize the classroom; students are divided into
groups of from two to six and they rotate through the centers, working at times
with a teacher teaching or facilitating, or working independently and receiving
support when needed. For example, a third grade class might be working on
writing a summary based on informational text. at one station, a co-teacher
could read a short passage that students collaboratively summarize, a second
co-teacher might work on a longer passage and teams of 2 students might
summarize a different paragraph and share their summary with the rest of the
group, a third station might an informational passage already on a bank of 2
computers and students in 2’s summarize the paragraph, and finally a group of
students might read an example summary and evaluate it using a rubric.
 Each center focuses on a skill or on content that may have multiple levels or
alternatives for response for differentiation among the groups
 Each center can provide differentiated and focused learning for support,
reinforcement, or acceleration
 This model can provide access for all students to curriculum through
differentiation of the centers
 The stations must be carefully planned.
 The stations can be self-directed by individual or groups of two students work
together. If all of the stations are self-directed, teachers may circulate to
provide support when it is needed. Thus, teachers’ roles vary in station
teaching. and each teachers may facilitate a specific center, provide requested
support, or circulate among all groups,
Challenges:
 If centers are provided for “at risk” students only, centers may appear to be
remedial and not a kind of differentiation for all students
 This method is time intensive in the preparation of materials and the planning
for the needs of all students.
 If these centers are developed separately, one for GE students and the other for
SE students, the co-teachers may be teaching two classes, but in one
classroom. As a result, there may not be a real partnership between the
teachers if the groups are not co-planned and are always divided into GE and
SE students
GROUP 3: PARALLEL TEACHING 2 GROUPS
In the Parallel Teaching model, each educator teaches a different lesson to a
group
Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small-Group Instruction): Each Teacher Teaches a
Group
Strengths:
 The class is carefully divided into two groups either heterogeneously or
homogeneously based on need, for example, in a middle school mathematics
class, students who are having difficulty with ratios might be in one group
while another group may be focusing on solving word problems about ratios
 The same collaboratively-planned content is taught by each co-teacher
possibly with each lesson taught on different levels of difficulty


The small groups provide for more student and teacher interaction
The model requires equal expertise if both co-teachers are teaching the same
material
Challenges:
 This model may actually function as two separate classrooms held in one class
if the groupings are always based on readiness or level of challenge or if GE
and SE students are always in separate groups
 There may not be a real partnership between the teachers if they plan
separately for their SE or GE students all of the time.
GROUP 4: PARALLEL TEACHING ALTERNATIVE C0-TEACHING, SKILL
GROUP TEACHING, AND LEARNING STYLES
In Alternative Co-Teaching one group is smaller and is generally taught by
the specialist whose lesson is focused on specific targeted students;
Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small-Group Instruction): Alternative Co-Teaching
Strengths:
 Generally the class is divided into a larger and a smaller group with the
smaller group generally needing more intensive support, for example, a small
group of students may need re-teaching. The larger group may be going more
deeply into a concept.
 For example, in a middle school English class that just finished writing an
argument, the students who had difficulty with their conclusions might be in a
small group looking at samples of good conclusions and working
collaboratively to improve their own essays while the larger class might use
the class rubric to assess sample papers and then to work collaboratively to
improve their essays.
 Both teachers may work with each group alternatively in which case each
educator teaches her unique content or each teacher may stay with one group
 The smaller group participants change for different purposes including preteaching, re-teaching, and enrichment
 This model is generally used for a short period of time
Challenges:
 This model may actually function as two separate classrooms held in one class
if the groupings are always based on readiness or level of challenge or all of
the students are divided into GE and SE students
 There may not be a real partnership between the teachers if this type of lesson
is planned separately Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small Group
Instruction): Skill Group Teaching
Strengths:
 Students are grouped according to their need in specific skills could be taught
by either co-teacher
 At times this model is based on a 2- or 3-day co-teaching model when the SE
teacher reteaches skills not yet mastered. In this case, the roles of the coteachers would be unbalanced because the specialist would work with only
part of the class
 This method saves time especially if specialist is not in the classroom daily
 Multiple ability levels are addressed by dividing the groups into skills
Challenges:


This model may actually function as two separate classrooms held in one class
if the groupings are always based on readiness or level of challenge
There may not be a real partnership between the teachers if the specialist is
only planning for the target students
Model II: Parallel Co-Teaching (Small Group Instruction): Learning Styles Approach
Strengths:
 Both teachers support effective learning by providing re-teaching using
multiple modalities, for example, hands-on or visual re-teaching
 All learning modalities are included: visual/auditory and tactile/kinesthetic
 This model is generally used occasionally
Challenges:
 If this model is the usual model, the classroom may actually function as two
separate classrooms if the modalities address only the re-teaching of the target
students
 There may not be a real partnership between the teachers if this is the only
method used
Everyone: COMPLEMENTARY TEACHING AND THE DUET MODEL
Model III: Complementary or Side-by-Side Teaching
In the following two models, the teachers work together as equals. In the Speak and
Add Model, the second teacher may provide support and take notes on a smart board,
provide scaffolding for the whole class, or may ask questions that students may have.
Also, teachers may switch roles. In addition, the second teacher may be a second
content teacher in an interdisciplinary class who adds her content to the content of her
co-teacher. In the Duet or Team Co-Teaching model, both teachers are master coteachers and function as a high-performing team. Each teacher is able to provide both
content and support to all students. The Duet or Team Co-Teaching form of coteaching requires planning time.
The difference between the two forms of Model III is the level of expertise in coteaching of the teachers of the two models. In the former Speak and Add Model,
generally teachers are teaching the whole class together as equals. Interdisciplinary
teachers may use this model when most of their teaching is direct teaching. On the
other hand, the Speak and Add co-teachers may be just beginning to co-teach or they
may have been working together as co-teachers for a long period of time.
The high-performing Duet or Team Co-Teaching Team does not just use the whole
class model, but uses all of the models, whole group, small group, and
complementary. The Duet or Team Co-Teaching model is called high performing
because it is the most intensive of all of the models. It requires time for co-planning
and for communication. It also provides the most support for students.
Model III: Complementary: Speak and Add Model (Whole Class)
Strengths:
 One teacher takes the lead and the other teacher adds to the lesson with
graphic organizers, examples, questions, ongoing assessment, and support
 In an interdisciplinary co-teaching class, each teacher may contribute his
content area’s knowledge
 This model can be used as a beginning stage of co-teaching while the specialist
gains knowledge of the content and the GE teacher’s style
 This method takes little time in co-planning and is easy to implement
Challenges:

This model can underutilize second teacher (specialist) if this teacher is always
“adding”
 This model may become an “ad hoc” partnership that lacks long-term shared
goals and lacks depth.
 The skills of the second teacher may not be fully used throughout the class and
may be limited to her target students
Model III: Complementary: Duet or Team Co-Teaching, A High-Performing Team
Strengths:
 Duet teachers co-plan and make instructional decisions to work with small
groups, individuals, or the whole class based upon ongoing assessments
throughout the class
 Both educators employ general and SE techniques to support the progress of
all students
 This model is the most completely integrated for students and fully utilizes all
expertise of each co-teacher
 This method is the most time intensive because extensive planning and
communication is essential
 This method provides the most support for students
 The roles of the GE teacher and specialist are indistinguishable (Beninghof
2012, 55-58)
 Chapman and Hyatt call this method “Walking the Talk” because all of the
models are used as appropriate for the class.
 Teachers facilitate whole and small groups, have stations that are independent
and facilitated, and they differentiate for all learners
 This model’s organization is based on student goals and needs.
Challenges:
 The model takes time for planning, time for balancing the two teachers’
relationship, responsibility, and trust; it requires interdependence
 The model needs administrative and whole-school support and a school-wide
commitment to both inclusion and to high expectations for all students
 This method puts the greatest stress on the relationship
Planning—Sharing Responsibilities
Teacher A
Planning for the year
Planning for the week
Preparing materials
Grading tests, quizzes,
classwork, homework
Collecting, organizing and
analyzing data
Classwork, homework,
observations, formative and
summative data
Teacher B
Shared
Concerns,
Notes
Classroom routines
(attendance, make-up work,
passes, behavior problems,
meetings, schedules, IEPs,
team meetings)
Our 2 PD goals for the year
Our scheduled meeting
days/times for the year
Planning--Agenda
Meeting Date
Minutes Recorded by:
Time
5 min
5 min
5-10
min
30
min
10
min
5 min
People Present
Follow-Ups necessary:
AGENDA
Review Agenda and Positive Results since the last meeting
Review the Co-Teaching Progress Rubric/Tracker to make sure you keep all of your
priorities in focus
Review student needs, student work, student data
Plan for the next week using agreed-upon weekly lesson planning document or daily
lesson planning document
Review tasks for participants for the next week
Plan for next meeting: time, place, participants, topics
Planning: Lessons
Day of week/
Content
Monday
Content:
Tuesday
Content:
Wednesday
Content:
Thursday
Content:
Friday
Content:
Whole Class:
 One teach/One
observes
 One teaches/One
drifts
 One teaches/One
assists or supports
 One teaches/One
adapts the curriculum
Small Groups
Small Group





Parallel Teaching
Alternative
Skill Group
Learning Styles
Stations
Materials,
Tasks Teacher
A
Materials Tasks
Teacher B
Techniques Skills Survey
.
Major
Strength
Some
Strength
I could
learn
something
about
This is a
challenging
area that I
could learn
about
Content areas of classroom
Flexible grouping, cooperative learning
Making groups accountable
Teaching reading, writing, or specific skills
Developing a positive classroom
environment
Routines for classroom (attendance,
bathroom passes, transitions, passing out
paper, make-up work)
High expectations for all
Grading with another teacher
Modification of lessons for specific needs
Designing scaffolds to support specific
learner needs
Differentiating for different learners
Developing challenging and engaging units
Positive behavior supports
IEP Goals and progress monitoring
Creating a challenging yet safe environment
for learning
Using data to make decisions about
curriculum, instruction, assessment, and
specific students
Specific district or school Initiatives such as
project-based teaching, Response to
Intervention, data analysis, curriculum
based assessment, etc.
Technology: Data bases, assessment, website design, behavior software
In addition to the time spent planning for the classroom, the partners need to spend time on their partnership and
its development. According to Chapman and Hyatt, co-teachers need to have 4 ongoing critical conversations
about their relationship and their classroom. The topics should include the following four topics that are
sustained throughout the co-teaching partnership. Co-teachers need to consistently revisit and reflect on how
they:
1. Define the Partnership: Partners develop a shared vision, establish roles and responsibilities, and lay
the collaborative foundation that may need adjusting throughout the year
2. Examine Data: Together they focus on results, use data about students to make instructional
improvements and become more adept at adjusting materials and instruction to support each student
3. Enhance Instruction: They focus on ways to provide more value as a twosome than one teacher could
do alone and continue to learn together about research-based methods that work for their students
4. Expand Impact: They recognize that they are part of a school system and that they need to have
administrative support for their work together and for professional development that will support the
school and the team’s capacity for improving instruction (Chapman and Hyatt 2011, 10-11).
According to Chapman and Hyatt, models need to be addressed, but the true value added component of coteaching comes from the partnership’s growth which will take place over time as the four areas listed above are
consistently considered, critically and reflectively, during the co-teaching meetings and in the classroom.