Administrative Support

Co-teaching is more effective when there is substantial, continuous administrative support (Cook & Friend, 1995; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2015b; Maxwell, 2014; McClure & Cahnmann-Taylor, 2010; Silva, 2011).

What are some of the responsibilities of administration in regard to co-teaching?

• Securing sufficient funding (Silva, 2011)
• Being committed to inclusive education (Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis, 2008)
  • Consider using this "Indicators of Successful Inclusive Schools" checklist (Beninghof, n.d.)
• Securing additional staff members who are highly qualified and who have experience in co-teaching, when possible (McClure & Cahnmann-Taylor, 2010; Kusuma-Powell & Powell, 2015)
  • Must have good communication skills, be credible and trustworthy, be familiar with recent research, be open to sharing ideas
• Acquiring necessary resources (Cook & Friend, 1995; McClure & Cahnmann-Taylor, 2010)
• Being knowledgeable about co-teaching and co-teaching strategies (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
• Being supportive of co-teaching and promoting buy-in from staff (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015; Silva, 2011)
• Engaging with co-teachers in any training (Cook & Friend, 1995)
• Partnering up co-teachers (see "Voluntary Partnerships" tab) (Friend, Cook, Hurley-Chamberlain, & Shamberger, 2010)
• Communicating with parents and community members about co-teaching (Friend et al., 2010; Murdock, Finneran, & Theve, 2016)
• Modeling and promoting collaborative skills (Cook & Friend, 1995)
• Being ready to assist when challenges or conflict occur (Friend et al., 2010; Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis, 2008)
• Trying to keep effective co-teachers together (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
• Scheduling co-taught times (Cook & Friend, 1995; Friend et al., 2010)
  • Schedule co-taught times first when creating a master schedule (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
  • Stagger co-teaching times within and across grade levels (Friend & Reising, 1993; York-Barr, Ghere, & Sommerness, 2007)
  • Include common planning time when possible (Cook & Friend, 1995; Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis, 2008; Friend et al., 2010; Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015; Silva, 2011)
  • Keep in mind that 45 minute blocks of time are the minimum for effective co-teaching (A. M. Beninghof, district training, June 20-21, 2013)
  • Consider that newcomers often need additional EL instruction beyond what is provided through co-taught instruction (McClure & Cahnmann-Taylor, 2010)
• Clustering EL students in co-taught classrooms
  • Murawski & Bernhardt (2015) provided the following recommendation: "Try to avoid having more than 30 percent of a general education class designated as having special needs" (p. 32; A. M. Beninghof, district training, June 20-21, 2013)
• Conducting observations in co-taught classrooms (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
  • Observe co-teaching partners more often since they will be using different co-teaching models (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
  • Look for indicators of co-planning, co-teaching, and co-assessing (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
  • Evaluate both teachers concurrently rather than at separate times so that one teacher does not feel the need to lead the lesson during the observation while the other steps back (Murawski & Bernhardt, 2015)
  • Consider using this "DELIVER Instruction for Integrated ESL/ENL Classes" assessment tool (Honigsfeld & Dove, 2015c)
  • Consider using this "Co-Teaching Observation and Reflection" assessment tool (Beninghof, n.d.)