Over the past decade, changes in education policy and practice have made co-teaching an increasingly popular service delivery model. In an era of increased professional accountability for student outcomes, higher achievement standards, and greater inclusion, more and more schools are turning to co-teaching to meet federal mandates, state standards, and better meet the needs of increasingly diverse students.
Marilyn Friend, PhD is one of the foremost experts on co-teaching in the country. Since the 1990s, she has written extensively about co-teaching, which she suggests and research indicates can be a highly effective way of providing students with special needs access to the general curriculum in the least restrictive environment when co-teachers are a general and special education teacher. The power of this kind of co-teaching model, says Friend, stems from the fact that each teacher brings different types of expertise to the table.
But the benefits of co-teaching are not limited to special education students. Co-teaching is also a highly effective way of meeting the needs of English language learners (ELLs), as well as gifted students. In fact, all students stand to benefit from co-teaching. Teachers in successful co-teaching teams complement and support one another, improving their classroom practices for the benefit of all students.
With her extensive personal experience and research demonstrating the power of co-teaching, Dr. Friend is a strong proponent of this service delivery option. However she also cautions that implementing effective co-teaching is not as simple as it may seem. Planning, preparation, and support are essential to overcoming challenges such as finding time for co-planning, building positive co-teaching relationships, clarifying roles and responsibilities of each co-teacher, ensuring administrative support.
In her books, videos and training engagements, Dr. Friend demonstrates and explains in detail how educators (both teachers and administrators) can overcome these common challenges and make co-teaching work to its fullest potential. Now, for the first time, Dr. Friend’s expert insight and top training tips on co-teaching have been consolidated into an easy access, quick-reference laminated guide published by National Professional Resources, entitled Co-Teaching: Strategies to Improve Student Outcomes.
Co-Teaching: How to Improve Student Outcomes
Laminated Reference Guide by Co-Teaching expert Marilyn Friend. Buy now for $12.95
This six-page guide offers teachers a concise overview of the fundamental “what,” “why,” and “how” of co-teaching. In addition to practical, easy-to-implement co-teaching strategies, readers will find valuable information on such topics as
- Co-teaching and inclusion
- Co-teaching vs. team teaching
- Co-teaching vs. paraprofessional support
- The role of each co-teacher
- Elements of successful co-teaching partnerships
- Instruction in co-taught classrooms/understanding specially designed instruction (SDI)
- Co-teaching and Common Core Standards (CCSS)
