Reinventing Special Education:Co-Teaching

Powerful PartnershipsPresented by Jill Hay, ICLE Consultant

jillhay@olypen.com

Big D

•Spencer

Holly and

Sp. Path.SE TeacherInclusion TeacherGE TeacherEd. DiagnosticianGifted Ed.

Professional Dev.Like to gardenBeginner quilterLove to readVolunteer at the Visitor Center

SpencerHollyBrent

Sequim, WashingtonWest of Seattle“Place to go shoot”LavenderElk61 is young

Spencerlives with me

Holly (my daughter)and Brentlive in New Braunfels, TX.#1 due inNovember

THAT’S ME!

• High school, middle school, elementary, administration

• Born in the state that I am currently living• Cat person, dog person• Likes Mexican food more than Italian• Rather read than watch football• Traveled out of the country• Volunteer• Collector

Agenda for our Time Together1. What is and is not co-

teaching 2. Planning to co-teach3. Designing a program

for success4. Implementing with

fidelity5. Evaluating, tweaking,

improving

Agreements

• Participation = Professional Growth• Active Listening

– Limited focused attention– Person talking gets Active Listening

• No Put Downs– Treat others as you would like to be

treated– Cell phones on vibrate

• Be responsible for the energy that you bring to this situation

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Reported in New York Times…•January 6, 2012•Tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years •Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores seem to have a wide-ranging, lasting positive effect on those students’ lives•Students with top teachers are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, more likely to enroll in college, and more likely to earn more money as adults, the study found.

It is the teacher – what the teacher knows and can do – that is the most significant factor in student achievement.

So Just Imagine the Power of Two Effective Teachers in the Classroom…

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Co-teachers can be…

• General and special education teachers

• Teaching assistants

• Students

Why Co-Teach?• It may be your district’s policy.• It is the law to have students in the

Least Restrictive Environment. • Students with special needs are

guaranteed access to general education curriculum

• It’s good for kids.• It’s good for teachers.

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COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

• It is…– The general education

teacher and special education teacher jointly plan and lead instruction. Both teachers teach content, modify instruction, and facilitate instructional activities.

– The general education teacher and the special education teacher jointly monitor, assess, and evaluate progress of all students.

• It is…– The general education

teacher and special education teacher jointly plan and lead instruction. Both teachers teach content, modify instruction, and facilitate instructional activities.

– The general education teacher and the special education teacher jointly monitor, assess, and evaluate progress of all students.

• It is not…– One teacher leads

instruction while the other teacher serves as an assistant in the class or outside the class, carrying out instructional support activities

– The special education teacher separates students with disabilities from the rest of the class to work with them on a regular basis.

• It is not…– One teacher leads

instruction while the other teacher serves as an assistant in the class or outside the class, carrying out instructional support activities

– The special education teacher separates students with disabilities from the rest of the class to work with them on a regular basis.

A Professional Marriage Made in Heaven

• Truthfulness and trustworthiness: It's hard to have a healthy relationship when you can't trust each other. Thoughtfulness and consideration: We know you're busy, but thoughtfulness really makes a difference in terms of maintaining a healthy relationship. Supportiveness: Support each other when you're going through hard times—or when you want to improve yourself or try something new. Flexibility: You can't always expect to get your way. You should be able to talk things through without getting defensive. A healthy relationship requires that you listen to one another—and sometimes give in!

TO CO-TEACHPLANNING

Proactive planning for administrators?

• What is our vision for shared responsibility to educate all students?

• Who are the teachers in the district that show readiness?

• Who will provide the comprehensive training for ouradministrators and co-teachers?

• What successful district or local sites can the administrators and teachers visit?

• What is the evidence that effective instruction and behavior management are being utilized?

• How will I monitor the fidelity of the co-teaching model?

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Proactive planning for teachers?• What are our beliefs?

– Behavior, grading, instruction, assessments

• What are my, your, and our pet peeves?• How will we communicate?

– To one another, students and parents

• What is our mission?– Who are we and what do we do?

• What is our vision?– An image of the future we wish to create

• What professional development do we need?

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WORD SPLASH

• Reflect upon a few key words from proactive planning for teachers and administrators

• Why were they important to you?• We will popcorn 3 responses from

the group.

A PROGRAM FOR SUCCESSDESIGNING

DESIGNING A SUCCESSFUL CO-TEACHING PARTNERSHIP

• Building co-teaching relationships– What does each person need from the

other?– How will we treat one another and our

students?• Selecting co-teaching approaches

– Lead and Support, Station Teaching, Parallel, Complementary, Duet

• Scheduling co-teaching classes

Stages of Relationships1. Forming

– Discuss how to interact, clarify roles, and discover each other’s strengths

2. Storming

– Work through challenges and learn from those challenges

3. Norming

– Work in sync for the benefit of all students

Co-Teaching Approaches• Lead and Support

– One leads the other supports by assisting individual students, charting information, adding and or clarifying information.

• Station Teaching– Each teacher plans content for their

station, students rotate to each station• Parallel

– Teachers jointly plan content and deliver to separate groups of students

Co-teaching ApproachesComplementary• One teacher instructs

the large group while one teacher works with smaller groups of students to– Pre-teach– Re-teach– Supplement– Enrichment

Duet• Co-teachers plan and

instruct in a highly collaborative way.

• Each teacher can lead large and small group

The Key: Alternate between models

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SCHEDULING THAT BRINGS SUCCESS• Thoughtful consideration by planning teams to

construct heterogeneous classrooms• Hand scheduling students• Adequate support is available for the teachers

and students• Administrative guidance and support• Co-teaching involved related service personnel• Distributed use of paraprofessional support• Adhere to the natural proportions • Cluster students if caseloads are large• The continuum of abilities is not extreme

Stay Out of Divorce Court

Administrators• Use personality,

temperament and or styles surveys when creating co-teaching pairs

• Be available to lend support when needed

• Keep to the natural proportions when scheduling classes 11-12%

• Build co-planning time into the day

Teachers• Take time to appreciate

and celebrate• Use open communication

to discuss problems as they arise

• Come to an agreement on behavior

• Be able to discuss and agree upon what are fair grading practices for each student

Sentence Starters

• Reflect upon how you would finish this sentence…– Designing a successful co-teaching

classroom must include ______________.• Be ready to add your thought into the

large group run on sentence which will include everyone’s thought.

• A response is very important when two or more have the same answer.

WITH FIDELITYIMPLEMENTING

Ongoing discussions include…

• Lesson plans that address curricular content

• Appropriate co-teaching structures to use• Effective instructional practices and

activities• Criteria to assess student performance• Identification of strengths and areas of

improvement• Resolution of challenges and concerns

Alignment Between Content and Performance Tasks

What do you want students to know?

What do you want students to do to show

what they know?

Enduring Understanding

Important to Know and Do

Worth Being Familiar With

Establishing Curricular Priorities

Enduring Understanding

Important to Know and Do

Worth Being Familiar With

Identify the counterargument and state:Why people hold that opinionWhy they might be wrong

Be able to state one’s opinion on a topicBe able to identify others’ point-of-view

People do not always agree about issues. They can have opinions.An opinion may not be right or wrong; it is what a person believes.

Establishing Curricular Priorities

Enduring Understanding

Important to Know and Do

Worth Being Familiar With

A line that has a slope of 0 is horizontal and parallel to the X axisA line that’s slope is undefined is vertical and is parallel to the Y axisParallel lines have the same slopeTwo lines are perpendicular if the product of their slopes is -1.

•The slope of a line can be used to make predictionsThe slope of a line tells us information about linear equationsA slope is the rise over the run: •Up to the right is a positive slope•Up to the left is a negative slope

Slope is a measure of steepness/rate of change of a lineExamples of slopes are handicapped ramps, mountainsides, pitch of a roofWe can find the slope from two points on a line•A slope can go up or down

Establishing Curricular Priorities

Rigor/Relevance Framework

Product by Quadrant A • definition• worksheet• list• quiz• test• workbook• true-false• reproductio

n• recitation

B•scrapbook•summary•interpretation•collection•annotation•explanation•solution•demonstration•outline

C•essay•abstract•blueprint•inventory•report•plan•chart•investigation•questionnaire•classification

D•evaluation•newspaper•estimation•trial•editorial•play•collage•machine•adaptation•poem•debate•new game•invention

Write a PoemThink of a list of words that have meaning for co-teachers. Write a short poem that uses these words.  

Design a Poster or a WordleMake a list of words that describe co-teaching. Create a poster or a wordle, laying these words out in an attractive pattern of positions and colors.

Think of Song TitlesMake a list of song titles that could describe co-teaching. Write the list down. Be prepared to sing one of your songs for the group.

Make a ModelUse simple household materials like toilet paper rolls, balloons, string, and pipe cleaners to make a model of what co-teaching looks like.        

Create a Human SculptureWith your group members, create a human sculpture that depicts co-teaching. 

Create a SkitCreate a skit that shows a co-teaching scenario.

Draw a PictureDraw a picture that depicts co-teaching.

Make a Bumper StickerCreate a bumper sticker with a slogan that describes co-teaching. 

Create a CollageThink about words and images that the concept of co-teaching evokes in your mind. Find pictures and words in magazines and create a collage.  

Choice board for differentiatedco-teaching projects

Lesson Planning on the Fly...

TEACHER ACTIVITIES DURING THE CO-TEACHING PROCESS

What is the general education teacher doing?

What is the special education teacher doing?

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Resolving Challenges and Concerns

• During planning discuss the following questions:– Are we comfortable in our roles?– What has our biggest success so far?– What do we need to improve upon?

• Varied use of co-teaching structures• Consistency in behavior expectations• Grading• Parental contact• Assessment

TWEAKING AND IMPROVINGEVALUATING

EVALUATING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

• The goal is to ultimately improve the education for all the students in the program

• Evaluation questions should emphasize student learning and achievement

• Use measurements such as pre and post assessments, state and district assessments, AYP data, and student surveys and interviews about their experiences in the co-teaching program.

EVALUATING FIDELITY OF CO-TEACHING MODEL IMPLEMENTATION

• Classroom curriculum design• Varied use of co-teaching structures• Effective instructional practices• Positive classroom and behavior

management• Parent communication

THINKING DOTS

I have learned…I want to know moreabout… I was surprised by…

How is the informationconnected to whatI already know?

How will this

information impact my profession?

How will thisinformationimpact my students?