Special Education Weekly Update
November 18, 2015
Co-Teaching
It is well known that co-teaching is an instructional model that can benefit all students in a classroom. Many teachers in the Strongsville City Schools have received training and attended professional development in co-teaching. It is important to revisit and remember several key factors to co-teaching as we develop our capacity for this instructional model.
- Co-teaching involves two or more certified (teachers) professionals who contract to share instructional responsibility for a single group of students primarily in a single classroom or workspace for specific content or objectives with mutual ownership, pooled resources and joint accountability.
- Co-teaching is designed to meet the educational needs of students with diverse learning options.
- Co-teaching allows for more intense and individualized instruction in the general education setting increasing access to the general education curriculum while decreasing stigma for students with special needs.
- Students with special needs have a greater opportunity for continuity of instruction as the teachers benefit from the professional support and exchange of teaching practices as they work collaboratively.
The figure below represents the models of co-teaching. A successful co-teaching classroom reflects a healthy rotation of ALL models throughout the school year. A co-teaching classroom that reflects 1 - 2 models needs to reflect on this and develop a means to incorporate all models. If you have any question or comments related to co-teaching please ask and discuss with a Bethany, Drew, or Andy.
About Us
The Special Education Department in the Strongsville City Schools is a proactive group of highly qualified and driven educators that are dedicated to serve students with disabilities with passion and hard work. We provide professional development and innovative training to all levels of staff to ensure outstanding service to our students. We have high expectations at every level and work continuously to improve our instructional practices, leadership, and collaborative partnerships with parents and families.