PART TWO

LOOKING THROUGH THE CO-TEACHING KALEIDOSCOPE

Models of Co-Teaching

Co-teaching is most successful when each partnership is encouraged to develop a model that works best for their students. Within the course of a single week, within the course of a single lesson, the teachers might move in and out of several different models or approaches to co-teaching. This book will present nine models of co-teaching from which to pick and choose (see Table P2.1 for an overview). The number of models presented by any text or consultant is somewhat arbitrary given that there are really unlimited ways that two teachers can work together.

TABLE P2.1: A Synopsis of Co-Teaching Models

Because co-teachers may come from many different fields of education, such as speech and language, literacy, or ELL, each model will be described in terms of the roles of Teacher A and Teacher B. The term “specialist” will be used to refer to the adult that is not the general educator. The phrase “targeted students” will be used to refer to students who are the focus of the specialist’s intervention, such as students identified as gifted or in need of special education. In subsequent chapters, the unique factors of co-teaching in each specialty area will be explored in further depth. In addition to role descriptions, the pros and cons of each model will be outlined to assist in your selection of a model that is best suited to the circumstances.