Guidelines for Co-Teaching in Texas - Region 17

Considerations for SchedulingThere are three major scheduling considerations in planning a campusco-teaching environment:1) campus master schedule,2) teacher planning time, and3) student schedules.1 Campus Master ScheduleFor successful co-teaching implementation, there are several things that the campus master schedulerneeds to take into account. Co-teaching classes must be on equal footing as other courses in developmentof the master schedule, with thoughtful placement of co-teaching classes within the master schedule to meetboth teachers’ and students’ needs.The campus master schedule must consider scheduling of teachers and not just classes. If co-teachersmove from one room to another to work in multiple classrooms, proximity of the co-teaching classroomsmust allow timely navigation, especially if the co-teacher has materials to transport from one classroom toanother. Also, the level of support needed for each individual student, including varied amounts of time andflexibility of changing needs during the year, must be considered when preparing the schedule. If studentsreceiving support have IEPs that require specific contact time, the times noted on the IEP must be honored.At different grade levels, teacher teams are organized differently. For example, at elementary school,teams are often organized by grade level; at the secondary level, it is often by content area. One simpleand effective co-teaching model assigns the special education co-teacher to a team the same way generaleducators are assigned to teams. This method of team assignment assists in scheduling planning time andcoordinating teachers’ work. It also permits flexibility for the special education co-teacher who will, mostlikely, be collaborating with more than one general educator. Another consideration for team assignments isthe content area strengths of each co-teacher.Scheduling ARDs and substitute teachers is an additional issue for campus master schedulers to consider.Neither general nor special education co-teachers should be pulled from their co-teaching settings in orderto attend ARDs or to act as substitute teachers in other classrooms. This is especially true when a student’sIEP requires inclusive services and these services are delivered through a co-teaching model; failure toprovide the IEP-required inclusive services could result in a student’s IEP not being implemented as written,a non-compliance issue. For co-teaching to be truly successful, co-teachers must have time actually to be inthe classroom and work with students.© Texas Education Agency / Education Service Center, Region 20 Texas Co-Teaching Guidelines | 25