HomepageISTEEdSurge
Skip to content
ascd logo
Log in to Witsby: ASCD’s Next-Generation Professional Learning and Credentialing Platform
Join ASCD
December 10, 2015
•
•
Vol. 11
•
No. 7

What Qualities Do Co-teachers Need to Be Successful?

author avatar
Gloria Lodato Wilson
Joan Blednick

      Successful co-teachers have an unswerving commitment to have all students in the class learn and succeed, and they have an incredibly strong belief that teaching together is much more powerful than teaching alone. Having confidence in another person's content knowledge and learning strategies is essential to a successful partnership. Successful co-teachers also recognize the need to create opportunities for the atypical learner to access the curriculum in an inclusive setting. Co-teachers need to have flexibility, a strong work ethic, and the ability to share responsibilities with confidence.
      After working with hundreds of co-teaching partnerships, we have discovered that there are no insurmountable problems if the co-teachers have mutual respect for each other's knowledge and a shared work ethic. Many co-teachers begin the year in a reluctant and skeptical manner, but they eventually realize that students need the support of two teachers because one great teacher just can't do the job in an inclusive classroom. Good communication is an essential co-teacher quality, and fostering a good foundation for that interpersonal communication may be started by discussing answers to these questions:
      1. What is your best attribute as a person? A teacher?
      2. What noise and activity level are you comfortable with in a class?
      3. What are your usual homework and grading policies?
      4. What time do you usually start and end the school day?
      5. How do you like to communicate with parents?
      Changing "you" questions to "we" questions will elevate the conversation from a "me versus you" level to a collaborative co-teaching level:
      1. How will we plan lessons together?
      2. How will we make sure that each of us is a responsible and respected teacher in the classroom?
      3. How will we accommodate the diverse learning needs in the class?
      4. How will we prioritize curriculum topics?
      5. How will we go about thinking of the best ways to teach a topic?
      6. What strategies will we use to increase student learning?
      7. What are ways that we can assess the learning of our students?
      8. How will we share the responsibilities such as grading and talking with parents?
      9. How will we establish a class that respects individual differences?
      10. How will we communicate and solve issues or conflicts that might arise as our year together progresses?

      Gloria Lodato Wilson, PhD, is professor of special education and director of the graduate programs in secondary special education at Hofstra University. She collaborates with school districts to enhance their programs for students with special needs and English language learners by providing services to evaluate special education programs; giving workshops on effective teaching, progress monitoring, IEP development, and Universal Design for Learning; and serving as a learning coach for co-teachers.

      Wilson, a former resource room and special education content teacher, taught children with multiple disabilities to swim, created and ran a pre-school language clinic, taught students with autism in state and private schools, and created innovative programs for students with multiple disabilities in public schools. She received a National Teacher of the Year Award for her work in video therapy with students with special needs from both NBC and the Carnegie Institute. Her research interest is in the areas of teaching and learning strategies and effective co-teaching.

      Learn More

      Joan Blednick has more than 40 years' experience in public education, as a teacher, guidance counselor, administrator, and adjunct college professor. She received her doctorate in education from Nova University. Most recently, as principal of the Ames Campus of Massapequa High School, New York, Blednick developed and implemented a co-teaching model. Presently, as an educational consultant for Strategic Training and Research Consultants in New York, she strives to build effective co-teaching programs. The scope of Blednick's experience in education has helped her understand how all the parts work best together in an integrated model of co-teaching. She may be contacted at jabled@optonline.net.

      Learn More

      ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

      Let us help you put your vision into action.
      Discover ASCD's Professional Learning Services