Collaborating through Co-Teaching

By Marilyn Friend, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Representative to the Representative Assembly (RA) for the Teacher Education Division (TED)

When it comes to topics of interest related to collaboration, co-teaching is probably at the top of the list.  In this blog, I thought I would offer ramble a little about the problems constraining the potential of co-teaching from being realized.  These ideas come from keeping up with the professional literature on co-teaching as well as my own frequent work in schools.  The dilemmas include these:

• Lack of initial and ongoing professional development for co-teaching partners.
  Would anyone in the world of business expect a sales representative to introduce a new project without first being taught about it?  Would a surgeon try a new procedure without training?  Of course not.  But it seems in education that professionals often are left on their own to figure out how to implement new ideas and practices.   When teachers’ styles and approaches are complementary, this might not be a huge issue.  However, presuming that all teachers will naturally form strong classroom partnerships isn’t  realistic.  They should receive professional development—together.  This enables them to discuss expectations for co-teaching, negotiate classroom roles and responsibilities, discuss student matters, and so on.  Professional development is important for elementary teachers and critical for middle and high school teachers.  I suspect that better professional development (and initial teacher training) would eliminate many of the situations in which special educators are functioning, for all intents and purposes, as classroom assistants in their allegedly co-taught classes.

Lack of common planning time.
Among the tens of thousands of professionals with whom I have worked, the lack of common planning time is the top topic of concern, a fact supported by over two decades of professional literature.  I think we have to look for new ways to find common planning time and then be sure it’s used wisely.

For example, in some school districts, co-teachers cannot be released during the day but they receive professional development credit for the hours they spend outside the classroom, and they hours count as their required staff development hours.  In other school districts, special educators will, once each month, cover another team’s co-taught class to give those teachers the opportunity to plan together.  The special educator on the receiving team reciprocates, creating a planning opportunity for the first team.

In a perfect world (where is that “easy” button when we need it?), co-teaching teams would have at least weekly planning, and if that has been arranged for you, congratulations.  However, if a special educator co-teaches with several teachers, that probably is not a realistic option.   Periodic planning using the ideas above and others (e.g., occasional use of substitute teachers; principals and other administrators covering classes; related arts scheduled so teachers can meet), supplemented with those quick planning-on-the-fly conversations can still be effective.  What does not work over time is when the primary planning option co-teachers use is one person saying as the class begins, “What are we doing today?”

Lack of administrative understanding and leadership.
If you are a new teacher who is co-teaching, I hope that you have a wonderful principal who has avoided many of the problems already described by creating classes with a mix of students, setting up a reasonable schedule for you, and ensuring that you and your co-teacher(s) have participated in professional development on co-teaching.  If not, my advice is for you to lower your expectations in terms of what you can accomplish.  With out a principal or another administrator facilitating the development, implementation, and evaluation of co-teaching programs, there is a good chance that they’ll be only as effective as the hard work of the teachers makes them.  There also is a strong chance that the program won’t last for very long—the caring professionals trying to implement co-teaching eventually get so frustrated that they cannot continue.  In Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis, a book about the best inventions of the 20th century written 10 years ago, the point is made that collaboration is successful only when a strong leader fosters its development, protects participants from distractions, and facilitates problem solving.  That is exactly what is needed for co-teaching.

This posting is supposed to be brief, but it already has grown beyond what I intended and we’ve just started on some of the co-teaching constraints.  If you have others you’d like to add, I hope you’ll do so, and next week I’ll add comments about difficult or awkward interactions—which certainly can happen in co-teaching!

Comments

[Janelle Windsheimer]

I enjoy reading this blog because it deals with many of the problems that I am currently facing. Last year I was a first year special education teacher going into a school that was told two weeks before the start of school that inclusion was going to be implemented. The teachers were angry because they felt there were shoved into the situation without enought notice or training. At the end of the year the biggest complaint was that there wasn't a common planning time or time available for special educators and general educators to collaborate.

My goal was to come up with a schedule where teachers were able to provide a better educational setting inside the classroom for our students. My question is how do I get general educators motivated to want to work with the special educators instead of just looking as special educators as assistants in the classroom?

[Jamie Adams]

I teach kindergarten and first grade special ed. We have an inclusion program but over the past few years we have went to more pull out to resource rooms. I hope to be able to do more co-teaching but I have the same issues that relate to a common planning time. This past year, I did not have a planning time and l had to go to lunch and specials with my students so there was literally no planning time besides before or after school. As an added problem, I have many of the same issues with the assistants either doing too much or not enough for my students. Also, many classroom teachers have issues with the assistants and complain to me about it instead of mentioning something to the assistants when something happens in their classroom. Any ideas on how to be a (successful) middle man?

[Jamie Adams]

I teach kindergarten and first grade special ed. We have an inclusion program but over the past few years we have went to more pull out to resource rooms. I hope to be able to do more co-teaching but I have the same issues that relate to a common planning time. This past year, I did not have a planning time and l had to go to lunch and specials with my students so there was literally no planning time besides before or after school. As an added problem, I have many of the same issues with the assistants either doing too much or not enough for my students. Also, many classroom teachers have issues with the assistants and complain to me about it instead of mentioning something to the assistants when something happens in their classroom. Any ideas on how to be a (successful) middle man?

[Marilyn Friend]

Karen:

You're exactly right! I agree completely with your reflection time idea--although I've tended to use the term "housekeeping." How are WE doing!!! Congratulations on your positive partnership. I hope that your students' achievement this year reflects the hard work you're putting into growing a collaborative classroom.

[Karen]

Dr. Friend, I was very interested to read your thoughts on co-teaching and some of the potential roadblocks that can prevent a co-teaching partnership from reaching its full potential. I am a Special Education teacher and began co-teaching a 6th grade Science class with a colleague of mine this school year. We initiated this partnership on our own and have had the support of our building administrators. This collaboration has gone remarkably well given that we are both novices in the co-teaching department and have had no formal professional development in this area. (Most of our "training" has been done via the Internet.) I attribute our success to a number of the factors you mentioned, especially that of having a common planning time. As part of this "planning time," we have also built in "reflection time," in which we talk about what worked and what didn't work in a given lesson, and what adjustments we would make for the next class. This collaboration time is so crucial. I agree with your point that "What does not work over time is when the primary planning option co-teachers use is one person saying as the class begins, “What are we doing today?” That misses the entire essence of co-teaching.

[Marilyn Friend]

Serena--Is your school a middle school? Wha might happen if you asked your principal to come to a team meeting to spend a few minutes brainstorming about how to assist this student. That could help reinforce the importance of everyone working together on the student's behalf. Hav eyou met with your administrator and/or a special education supervisor to brainsorm other ideas? That could raise other ideas, too. At some point, a meeting with parens probably is in order, too.

[Marilyn Friend]

Jessica and Sarah:

I'm very glad to hear about your concern for getting parents involved in the education of their children with disabilities. Maybe one way to start thinking about this topic is to re-define what is meant by parent involvement. When parents are struggling with other matters (e.g., unemployment, family illness or other stressors) or if they have had negative experiences when they were students, they may be reluctant or unable to be what is traditionally considered "involved." It could be that your communication with parents, letting them know what is occurring, is involvement. Perhaps a request to read with a student or to discuss a topic with the student alsois appropriate parent involvement. And in some cases, parents' concern for their children, even if they cannot specifically get involved, is a reasonable expectation. I hope you keep reaching out to parents (would enlisting assistance from someone at their plce or worship help? a social agency?), but hope just as much taht you don't inadvertently think that parents don't care just because they do not actively participate in school activities or attend meetings.

Complex topic...

[Jessica]

I taught in a very rural area in WV, where the emphasis was placed on work rather on education. How do you collaborate with parents who have a very low emphasis on education? How do you then get them to emphasize to their kids how important education is?

[Sarah]

During my first year of teaching I worked at a school which had very little parental collaboration. I tried to involve the parents but for most children I was unsuccessful. How do you collaborate with parents who seem to lack an understanding of their child’s needs and the schools expectations?

[Serena]

I have a student in my 6th grade class with a Learning Disability. I have struggled with finding ways to help this student and consulted other teachers and the administration about the problem. The other teachers noted similar problems with an inability to take tests, no matter how they were modified, bad spelling issues, but great reading comprehension. The administration has not been very helpful in offering help or suggestions. Is there a way to get administration to assist in getting help? The parents are very nice and willing to do whatever is necessary for their child, but at a loss and without the support of the administration and other teachers, it's very hard to plan a program for the child. Any ideas on how to get other teachers to make specific suggestions for each class as consistency would be the best thing for the student.

[Marilyn Friend]

Robin--The topic of getting gened teachers to collaborate to ensure success for students with disabilities could fill an entire book. Many are wonderful, deeply understand that these students are theirs as much as any other student, and have lots of creative ideas for fostering learning. A few, though, seem to be stuck in the 1970s when students with disabilities were considered someone else's responsibility.

I'm a huge fan of first trying positives--showing teachers how simple changes can make huge difference sin students' learning, sharing ideas that might help many students, not just those with disabilities. At the same time, I also caution special educators that they should be sure that the accommodations students need are captured on the IEP--that gives permission for them to occur, but also compels teachers to provide them, if that's necessary. And, of course, all of this is much easier if ther is an administrator making clear to everyone in the school that inclusiveness is everyone's responsibility and includes meeting students where they are and taking them as far as possible, from wherever that may be to wherever that may be.

[Marilyn Friend]

Kevin and Wendy: Both of your questions and comments relate to finding time for special education teachers to meet with paraprofessionals. Important topic and one that is a problem in the vast majority of schools across the country. YOu both know, I'm sure, that one key dilemma is that paras. often are on a shorter workday schedule than teachers and don't get paid on teacher workdays and other days that might be used for meeting and professional development. I usually suggest that teachers ask their principals for a commitment that at least once permonth time will be carved out for at least a brief meetin (even 30 minutes can help). Couldn't the gened classes operate themselves withut the assistants for that short amount of time? If not the, could someone else cover the playground, lunchroom, or another duty once per month so that a meeting could occur. People often want daily or weekly meetings and that often is not possible. Occasional meetings should be possibly to arrange, though.

[Marilyn Friend]

Beth--I think that as long as you have at the core of your thinking that you respect parents and want to understand their perspectives, you can't go wrong. It sounds like you have epxerience in creating parent trust. The advice is a bit trite, but it works: I think you first listen and paraphrase so that you understand what parents tell you--you don't have to agree with everything said, but you do have to understand it before you can appropriately respond. Then I think you help move away from arecitation of past wrongs by making comments such as these: "I can't cahnge what has happened in the past, but I'd like to work hard together to make the future the best we can for your child." I'd also touch base often with parents, esepcially if you're trying to overcome negative past experiences. Depending on local policies, you also might invite parents to visit. For parents who cannot easily come to school or otherwise participate, notes home, e-mail, a call-in hotline, or other strategies can help keep the lines of communication open.

[Marilyn Friend]

Traci: My idealist side want you to do everything you can to advocate for students and get teachers to realize they're members of the class, not guests with assistants. However, my practical side knows this is not your responsibility. A couple of ideas...First, how is the special education teachers involved? S/he really should get into the classroom and observe so that this topic could be raised by the teachers, not you. Another thought--how much are you able to work with other students in the class as well. If you can offer to work with small groups or to manage the larger group while the teacher helps those who didn't understand, you might help to foster the teacher's interactions with students with disabilities.

[Marilyn Friend]

Bryan and Martin: Thanks for caring so deeply about the students with whom you work. In both cases it sounds like it's time to enlist the input of the special educators with whom you work. Paraprofessionals certainly make suggestions regarding students, but many gened teachers aren't clear on what your role is and might not realize how valuable your ideas can be. A first step might be to meet with special educaton teachers to describe the situation and what you think could hlpe and then work with them to communicate this information to gened teachers. By the way, my comments in no way are meant to intend that your ideas aren't great or that your can't communicate for yourselves--I'm worried (especially posting in a blog) about the ongoing school problem of unclear role responsibilities and communication glitches.

[Marilyn Friend]

Jennifer--Your question about promoting positive working relationships with paraprofessionals is an important one for new teachers. Part of the answer is related to Leslie's post--it's about being clear in setting expectations, inviting paraprofessional input as appropriate, but also being clear about directing paraprofessional work. One of the most essential steps concerns feedback: It's important that you notice and comment when paraprofessionals complete tasks in an exemplary manner and carry out instructions related to working with students. At the same time, if a paraprofessional does something inappropriate, you should offer constructive feedback as soon as possible. Special education teachers are in a difficult position sometimes regarding paraprofessionals--you will supervise their day-to-day work, but you're not their job supervisor (that's usually the principal). In most cases, you can developthe working relationship by being clear and doing what I just recommended. If a serious problem occurs, though, then administrative support should be sought.

[Marilyn Friend]

for Margaret on students with emotional disabilities--IN many cases these students are experiencing great success in a co-taught situation because the supports they need can be provided there. I'd suggest you start small, perhaps co-teaching for a unit or special project and having your students participate in that. I'd also think carefully about which students are placed together in a class and for how long--you don't want to set up a problem situation. Of course, it's also important to be sure that all the positive behavior supports arein place and that gened. teachers understand student needs. It's worth the effort to help these students succeed in a co-taught setting--most of them are quite capable of learning in the standard curriculum and they often can do well in the gened setting if they have appropriate supports. As always, though--it depends on the student's needs.

[Marilyn Friend]

From the comments several people have posted it seems we should have spent a week just talking about paraprofessionals! Here are a few comments:

First, I'm very concerned about the comments that paraprofessionals are babying students or doing what they want, ignoring teacher direction. Those are both signals of a serious problem since paraprofessionals are supposed to work at the driection of the teacher s to whom they are assigned. For the high school situation, it might help to meet with the general education teachers so that they had an understanding of what the paras. should do/not so for students. Another strategy would be to observe in classrooms and both model appropriate assistance and provide direct feedback to the paras. At the same time, it might be time to enlist the assistance of an administrator, perhaps to hold a session for the paras. on the scope of their responsibilities. Paras who refuse to do anything unless they're doing just what they want to do are not fulfilling their job responsibilities--and the ones who are hurt in the end are the students.

Ultimately, this problem is unlikely to get better unless it is alid on top of the table and addressed--either by the teachers or with administrative assistance.

[Robin Barnes]

I have worked in special education for 12 years. I believe collaboration between educators is very important in the students being successful in school. I hear tales from some special education teachers that general education teachers is not willing to work with them and modify for their students' and therefore some students may be failing.

How does one get other professionals to join them in collaborating about the students' learning? Is collaborating with all professional educators involved with the student not a major part of making sure the student can be and is successful in school?

[Kevin Hatfield]

I have been working as an assistant in special ed. for 14 years and have seen several things I don't always agree with. The one thing that I never have understood doesn't even go into the regular ed. setting. My question is, Why doesn't the special ed. teacher sit down with all the assistants and fill them in on new students and the problems they may or may not have? Instead of having assistants learn the student as they go.

[Wendy Worsham]

Dr. Field,

Thank you for this opportunity to ask questions. I have worked as a teaching assistant in special education in a middle school resource room, in middle school full inclusion classes, and am currently working at an alternative school with high school students who have behavioral problems and emotional disturbances. While in resource, where we taught two classes each of English, reading, and math, the teacher and I always had at least 30 minutes per day to collaborate, and it was wonderful. As an inclusion assistant, I worked with six different general education teachers while the "real" special education teacher for our four grades worked in the rooms of the other six teachers. The special education teacher and I had no time to collaborate with each other, let alone with the other twelve teachers. Now I find myself in a similar situation. I work for three different teachers, in a block-scheduling situation. What would be your advice to schools who do not have the resources to provide time or staffing for collaborative efforts. All of the staff with whom I have worked have been motivated to do the very best for the students that we can, but we are solidly booked with the children from "dawn til dusk" just trying to "cover" the rooms we are required to be in and helping them get through the day. We don't want to just get through the day; we want to support our students and put our heads together to do so. Thank you.

[Theresa]

How do you suggest including paraprofessionals in the collaboration process? What should be the role of the paraprofessional? I have worked as a Special Edcuation paraprofessional in an inclusion setting for 6 years and have sometimes been included in the planning process and sometimes I (and the student I worked with) have been shoved in the corner of the room where the main function of my job became to keep my student from "disrupting" the class and the teacher. I am now working toward a Master's degree in Special Education and just wanted to have your insight on how to include the paraprofessionals I will be working with in the future in hte planning and co-teaching process. Thank you.

[Beth Hood]

I am currently a Resource teacher in a small, rural school. I have a question about parents. I have taught at 2 different schools in my 11 year career. At school when I started the parents had a "terrible" working relationship with the previous Resource teacher. I have went in to both posistions basically "cleaning up" my predecessor's mess. Do you have any advice on how to get parents to trust and work with you when they were "burned" by the previous teacher?

[Traci Sise]

Dr. Field,

I have been a CDC assistant for 9 years and am familiar with the collaborative efforts between parents, special education and regular education teachers and support staff. My question to you concerns regular education teachers. How do you motivate a seemingly uninterested teacher to become involved with a special education student? How do you effectively open the eyes of the regular education teacher that this student is as deserving of his/her time as any regular education student? How can you help them to see the special education student as someone other than the child with the attendant? I have been in classrooms where the teacher does not acknowledge the special ed student because they have an attendant who can work with them. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. How do we strenghten this link in order for it to support the child totally?

Thanking you in advance for your response,

Traci Sise

[BryanJ]

I have been working as a Special Education Assistant for three years now. I enjoy the chance to work with students in inclusion classes, but sometimes it is difficult. Some of these students cannot master standarized exams that are given at the state level. How can I as a paraprofessional help prepare these students along with the gen. ed. teacher working with them?

[T Martin]

I work as an assistant at my local high school. I have a degree and I am working on a second degree in Special Education. I love working in the general education classrooms with my students but find that most of the teachers do not give my students very much to do. What would be the best way to approach the teachers and ask them for more work? I feel that I could help to modify some of the work for them but, I am afraid that would be overstepping my position in the class.

[Jennifer]

I am a general education teacher working toward a special education endorsement. I have never had experience with instructional assistants in any of my own classes. Recently I made several visits to a rather large classroom for students with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. I immediately noticed that the instructional assistants seemed to follow their own agendas and paid little attention to the teacher's plans for the students. I later found out that the teacher in this class had been teaching special needs students for less than six months. As a newer teacher, how can I encourage my instructional assistants to work with me to promote student progress as opposed to undermining my plans and objectives because of a percieved lack of experience?

[Margaret]

I currently teach at a Behavior Mod School for mild to severe behavioral students. What do you see as a helpful hint to help these students who have a hard time with change to be able to handle co-teaching?

[leslie]

I currently co-teacher with one other special ed teacher. We have 7 assistants and all of our students are in general ed classrooms. We are in a high school. The children are mild to severe children with cognitive disabilities. My question is how do I communicate that the students are very capable of doing many of the activities that gen ed teachers require, especially the hands on, however the assistants continue to do the activities for them and then the students are doing nothing. How can I get the assistants to stop "babying" the students and get them to help the children to be independent. The assistants get very offended when we speak with them and then will do nothing. There seems to be no common ground, they (the assistants ) either do all the work or none of the work.