“Co-teaching: Two or more professionals sharing the planning, instructing, and assessing of students” (Murawski & Spencer, 2011) is a service delivery option in schools implementing inclusive practices. Murawski & Spencer go on to say that what these two teachers are doing together is substantially different than what one teacher could do alone. In order for that to happen, we must remember that good teaching involves planning what you are going to do, doing it well, and assessing what did and did not work. Co-teaching involves the same elements, but equally shared - a professional parity.

GetREADY to become effective co-teachers by:

Adapted from Murawski & Spencer, 2011

To SET the stage for co-teaching, planning time must be discussed. Co-teachers need to decide when, where, and how co-planning will take place. In her book, Co-Teach!, Marilyn Friend outlines A Contemporary Co-Teaching Planning Model, which includes:

The second part of Dr. Friend’s planning model includes using Marilyn’s Sixty-Minute Planning Protocol to make sure that planning time is efficiently used.

When co-planning instruction for the co-taught classroom, it is important to remember that the goal is to heighten instructional intensity and engagement. This is accomplished by making the best instructional use of the adults in the classroom to meet the needs of diverse learners. To maximize teachers’ knowledge and skills in implementing co-teaching, Friend identifies Six Co-Teaching Approaches:

Friend, 2014

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