Co-Teaching: A Simple Solution That Isn’t Simple After All

Among the many options that professional educators are developing to better help their increasingly diverse students reach their potential, co-teaching is emerging as an innovative and potentially effective approach. Co-teaching occurs when two professionals, typically a general education teacher and a special education teacher, partner in delivering instruction. It is a way to ensure that students with disabilities or other special needs have access to the same curriculum and opportunities to succeed in the general education setting. Although the research base on co-teaching is still emerging, it suggests that co-teaching is far more complex to implement effectively than it might seem at first consideration. Challenges to co-teaching that have been identified and must be addressed include: arranging time for co-planning, building positive working relationships between co-teaching partners, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and ensuring administrative support. When creative strategies for arranging common planning time, building understanding and collaboration between co-teachers, planning and delivering instruction, and enlisting principal and other administrative supports are implemented, the potential for co-teaching to improve student outcomes is significant.