Guidelines for Co-Teaching in Texas - Region 17

The district needs to ensure that information about co-teaching exists on its website in multiple locationsor is linked to a central area from multiple locations on the website. Co-teaching should not be listed solelyunder “Special Education,” even if students who receive special education services are the target populationidentified by the district. The belief that all students have the ability to learn is the core of co-teaching.Co-teaching creates a setting that facilitates learning for all and could be reflected in the district’s value/mission statement.Remediation for Struggling TeachersWith implementation of a district-wide co-teaching model, the district needs to consider how it will handleteachers who are struggling both in and outside of a co-teach setting. While struggling teachers couldcertainly benefit from working with a quality veteran teacher, using co-teaching as remediation generally willnot help build a culture that supports the value of co-teaching.For struggling teachers in a co-teach setting, the district needs to consider how to provide remediation ifformal observation shows the teacher is not successfully implementing co-teaching. Will these teachers begiven additional professional development? If so, what type of professional development will be required andwho will provide it? What exactly is the remediation plan? How will accountability be built into this plan?Evaluation of Co-TeachingFor districts electing to adopt co-teaching district-wide, evaluation must be addressed at several differentlayers. In addition to formal evaluations and walk-throughs of teachers implementing co-teaching, the districtmust determine how co-teaching will be integrated into the evaluation of current campus administratorsand into the interview process for new administrators. For co-teaching to reach its full potential, principalsmust understand that effective co-teaching involves more than sending teachers to a one-time training andexpecting successful implementation without the necessary resources and supports. Administrators must beheld accountable for the effectiveness of co-teaching on their campuses, including how successful they havebeen in implementing, monitoring, and evaluating co-teaching.Evaluation of student outcomes as demonstrated through traditional data and student-based evidenceof progress is important in determining the success of the co-teaching program. In addition to traditionalgrades, IEP progress reports, and state assessment results, student-based evidence of progress includesdata such as:• instructional settings (looking at whether students are in less restrictive settings than beforeco-teaching was implemented);• results of formative assessments, such as benchmark tests (not just analyzing traditionalgrades, IEP progress reports, and state assessment results);• parent responses to co-teaching;• community responses to co-teaching; and• Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results and data.18 | Texas Co-Teaching Guidelines Texas Education Agency / Education Service Center, Region 20