Pros and Cons of Co-Teaching: Weigh In
This year I volunteered to work with Resource Room children in a co-teaching classroom. I have taught the LD tutored students for years and was looking forward to a change. And what a change it has been! In many ways, I love it and it has taught me both patience and new teaching strategies. But it can also be very frustrating, and we find ourselves questioning whether some of the students would be better serviced in a traditional resource room.
First, the positives: A co-teaching classroom is ideal for those students who need less academic support and perform better when challenged by their peers. Their desire to be in a regular education classroom creates a strong work ethic, and they are extremely successful as a result. It is these students who have made significant growth in our classroom this year. It has been such a pleasure to see their growth and self confidence as the year has progressed. We are hopeful that the OAT tests will reflect their academic progress this year.
I also have had the honor of working with an excellent special education teacher who has taught me so much about how these children process or have difficulty processing information. The techniques she has taught me, her unbelievable patience, and her love for these children has helped me to see them through new eyes. There is an innocence and playfulness in many of them that we often don’t see in our traditional I-need-to-be-cool regular education students. It is refreshing, and I have appreciated their candid nature.
Now, the negative: One of the most pressing concerns of co-teaching is that it drives down test scores on state achievement tests in co-teaching homerooms, and this is a major consideration for teachers. We all know that our test scores are publically scrutinized, and there is no disclaimer that explains the wide range of academic potential in our classrooms. This simple fact is a huge deterrent for many teachers who work hard for good test scores.
Another legitimate concern of co-teaching is that it is not always the best model for reaching the needs of the special education student. We have at least two students this year who we feel would have made more progress in a traditional resource room setting. In retrospect, we wish that option had been available to these students.
I would love to hear from other teachers who have had the opportunity to be involved in a co-teaching classroom. What worked? What didn’t? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the co-teaching model? Let’s do what teachers do best and learn from each other.