Marilyn Friend, Inc. 2008 Benefits and Barriers of Co-Teaching Approaches
Alternative
Teaching
Parallel Teaching
Station Teaching
Benefits
Facilitates small group learning
and is responsive to individual
needs. Strategies, such as minilessons, accelerated learning, and
mastery learning, address
differentiated instruction.
Barriers
Mastering pacing of groups
Student’s abilities to work
independently (if there is a third
station)
Noise level
Solutions
Utilize time, practice activities, know
students, use closure
Utilize peer, paraprofessional, checklist,
and picture schedules
Communication between teachers,
teaching signals
Establish and practice class routines for
transitioning
Benefits
Barriers
Solutions
Parallel teaching increases the
likelihood of participation. It also
allows for intensive work with a
small group of students.
Both teachers must have mastery of
content
Preplanning
Practice, work for early finisher,
agreement on timed activities, reconvene
as one group for closure/summary
Communication between teachers, develop
teaching signals
Timing/pacing of lessons
Noise Level
Monitoring
Teachers will use pre assessments to
determine how students are selected for
stations (e.g. skills, interests, random)
Given the organizational structure and
tasks of each station, assessments done by
students can also be used during the
lesson.
Monitoring
Each teacher monitors their own group of
students
Teachers use post reflection to share their
expectations using the same lesson plan
with different groups of students
Benefits
Barriers
Solutions
Monitoring
Allows for the use of alternative
methods to re-teach or extend the
lesson vertically or horizontally.
This model allows for multiple
means of delivery
Group can become static, the same
students in subgroups
Utilize data to vary groups by interest,
need for enrichment, re-teaching, or make
up
Both teachers pre assess the students to
plan for alternative lessons
Both teachers assess the students during
the formal lesson to identify students who
would benefit from the alternative lessons
Student self assessment and/or peerassessment encourages students to
articulate their need for alternative forms
of instruction
Group students by learning style
One Teach, One Assist
Team Teaching
Barriers
Solutions
Varied presentation styles
reach/appeal to diverse learning
styles
Highest degree of professional
collaboration
One teacher uses pre-assessment
to determine students’ need for
support
The other teacher assesses
students’ skills and facilitates
self-regulation during the lesson
Students use self assessment as
they request assistance during or
after formal lesson
Benefits
Decreased intensity of instruction
Well–prepared, monitored engagement of
students
Opportunities to collect data for
targeted academic or behavioral
issues
Having two teachers to help
individual students after the
lesson is presented (individual
guided practice)
Teachers may not be viewed as
equals
This approach should be used sparingly
and only when necessary
Can often result in one teacher
taking the lead role the majority of
the time
Change the focus of assistance
Lack of give and take
Knowledge of roles and responsibilities
Limited content knowledge
Monitoring
Teachers pre assess the students
Both teachers assess the students during
the formal lesson to identify students who
would benefit from alternative lessons
Preplanning
Consistency of co-teaching pairs assists in
refinement
Barriers
Students identified for support may
become static
Can be distracting to students,
especially those who become
dependent on the drifting teacher
Solutions
Change the role of the teachers
Monitoring
One teacher uses pre-assessment to
determine students’ need for support
The other teacher assesses students’ skills
and facilitates self-regulation during the
lesson
Students use self assessment as they
request assistance during or after formal
lesson