The Golden Key to Effective Inclusion: Co-Teaching!

Abstract

Effective inclusion takes intentional practices which leverage every possible resource. Too often, instructional staff are underutilized in classrooms, or pulled out to work with specific children. This leaves the student-to-teacher group ratio too high to ideally individualize instruction. There are several co-teaching models which offer teachers clear pathways to tap in to all expertise in the room and maximize learning opportunities for all children. This paper outlines key structures and principles of using co-teaching to make inclusion work for children and teachers, highlighting four effective models: station teaching, parallel teaching, teaming, and split the class.