Discussion between division and component districts
Co-teaching — where mainstream and special education teachers collaborate as teaching partners — topped the agenda at the Special Education Division’s January meeting of Committee on Special Education (CSE) representatives and chairs from component districts.
The co-teaching presentation and discussion were part of an ongoing series designed to foster communication between the division and the component districts it serves, and to share best practices around special education issues common to all.
Marie Brander, BOCES training specialist, and Darcy Williams, a special education school improvement specialist (SESIS) with the Capital District/North Country Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center (RSE-TASC), led the presentation. Representatives from the Scotia, Shenendehowa and Niskayuna school districts, which have co-teaching arrangements in some of their middle and high school classes, helped shed light on the subject and spoke to the benefits of this approach for students.
At this time, only a handful of districts in the Capital Region incorporate true co-teaching in their schools.
“Our goal with this presentation,” explained Special Education Division Director Inge Jacobs, “was to share quality information about what we understand can be a win-win approach for all students and their teachers and to give interested districts the motivation and resources to begin the process of moving toward co-teaching, too.”
With co-teaching, a special education and a general education teacher share instructional responsibility and accountability for a single group of students, often in a shared classroom. Skill levels, the instructional needs of the students and the general comfort level of the teachers dictate which of the teachers takes a lead role at any time and which teaching tasks he or she takes on.
“Perhaps the most significant benefit of co-teaching, from a special education perspective, is that students have access to both a content area teacher with a specialization in a subject area, and a special education teacher, who can help modify the content or redeliver its teaching to make it most meaningful for those needing assistance,” explained Williams.
The presenters and participants also noted that co-teaching:
• Greatly expands the opportunity for differentiated instruction (providing students with different means of acquiring academic content) for all students;
• Increases individualized programming for all students;
• Decreases student-to-staff ratios;
• Supports all learning needs, styles and ability levels;
• Allows students with special needs to collaborate and learn with and from their non-disabled peers;
• Provides special education students with positive role models for behavior and academic learning;
• Helps students develop more sensitivity for students with special needs;
• May decrease bullying as tolerance for others’ differences increases;
• Sets a higher standard for achievement and potential for learning success for special needs students; and
• Gives special education students a greater sense of ownership of their education.
“Co-teaching has been one of the best
professional development opportunities for me,” said Joe Kott, a
Shenendehowa 10th grade English general education teacher in a
co-teaching partnership with Special Education Teacher Nikki Cook.
“I have learned so much about special education, and it has been a
great opportunity for Nikki to learn about general education. Once
you are in it, co-teaching creates very tight-knit classroom
community in which the lines between special education and general
education begin to blur.”
“Partnership with another teacher allows for more support for the special education students or for the slower learners in the class, as well as providing enrichment opportunities for others,” Cook added. “Co-teaching is a best practice for all the students in the room.”
For more information about the presentation on co-teaching, please contact Marie Brander, or Darcy Williams.
