Co-Teaching: An Instructional Leader's Guide
You’re an instructional leader with co-taught classrooms. Two educators. Twice the support for students. That’s great!
But in some classrooms, it can feel like one teacher is the point guard and the other is just sitting on the bench.
We’ll help you break down what’s working and where you can build up more effective co-teaching strategies – so that teachers feel confident and all students succeed.
What is Co-Teaching?
“Co-teaching is a collaborative approach to instruction in which two teachers work together to plan and deliver instruction for a class that includes students with and without disabilities. This can benefit all students who need extra support. Co-teachers are both fully-certified educators, generally a general education and a special education teacher.”
Adapted from A Teacher’s Guide to Special Education, David Bateman and Jenifer Cline
Example: Co-Teaching Best Practices
Partnering with Schools
Ideal Instruction partnered with school leaders at one New York City school to:
- Identify teachers who could serve as models for co-teaching.
- Coach them to build their skills, and then develop a video library of best practices to support other teachers for years to come.
Six Co-Teaching Models
One Teach, One Assist
One teacher leads instruction, while the other actively supports student understanding – for example, by taking notes on the board, circulating, or finding exemplar student responses.
One Teach, One Observe
One teacher leads instruction, while the other observes students to gather specific data (like level of understanding, or student engagement) which the two teachers will use to guide instruction.
Parallel Teaching
Teachers divide the room into two groups and teach the same content simultaneously, allowing for a better student to teacher ratio and some customization to student needs.
Station Teaching
Teachers set up stations around the classroom, and each teacher either leads small group instruction at a station, or circulates to support students who are working independently.
Alternative Teaching
One teacher instructs a large group while the other instructs a small group that may need special support.
Team Teaching
Both teachers lead full group instruction in a “tag-team” model, handing off pieces of the lesson fluidly.
Get Ideal Instruction’s guide for One Teach, One Assist!
With key Look-Fors, coaching tips, and a “See It” video clip.
Are your educators using the most effective co-teaching strategies?
3 Common Co-Teaching Mistakes
Common Mistake 1:
No shared planning time and unclear roles
How You’ll Spot It:
One teacher seems passive, disengaged or frustrated; students go unsupported
One teacher seems passive, disengaged or frustrated; students go unsupported
Common Mistake 2:
Missed opportunities for flexible grouping
Missed opportunities for flexible grouping
How You’ll Spot It:
Students are nearly alwasy in large groups, or in two groups that don’t reflect their needs or interests.
Common Mistake 3:
Lack of training, coaching, or feedback
Lack of training, coaching, or feedback
How You’ll Spot It:
Teachers repeat the same lesson types without noticeable improvement in their skills; teachers feeling frustrated; students not succeeding.
How can you improve your co-teaching classrooms?
We've got you!
How Can I Develop Co-Teaching Best Practices at My School?
Ideal Instruction works closely with school leaders to diagnose missed opportunities in their instruction and select the right PD plan for their school. Some examples of our work:
Instructional Best Practices
Campus/ district-wide needs assessments, as well as supporting principals to align their co-teaching plan to their instructional vision and analyze data to make change.
Training and Coaching
Customized Teacher Professional Development
Hands-on, engaging PD workshops that cover the mindsets, strategies and skills that co-teachers need to work together effectively and support every student.
Example sessions:
- The Power of 2
- Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)
- Parallel teaching
- Small group teaching
- Station teaching
Real-Time and Video-Based Teacher Coaching
Ideal Instruction coaches work directly with co-teachers, using video, feedback cycles, practice rounds, and exemplars of excellent teaching, called “See It” clips.
Instructional Video Library
Organized, indexed collections of exemplar clips that principals and coaches can draw from week by week, across grades and content areas.
“As a veteran educator, this was incredibly personalized… real‑time coaching led to incredible outcomes, especially for exceptional and multilingual learners.”
-Mandy Fraser
5th Grade History Teacher
Coached by Ideal Instruction
Connect with Ideal Instruction
Ideal Instruction coaches have 191 years of collective experience in school and instructional leadership. We help you identify your biggest challenges and implement solutions – fast.
