Collaborative Teaching Overview
Collaborative Teaching Structures
Speaker 1 (00:00):
[ Transitions of the words “Include, Collaborate, Teach” appear on the screen, the logo of FIN is then shown ]
[ “Collaborative Teaching Overview” slide appears on the screen ]
<silence> The term collaboration means two professionals working together for a specific purpose. In Florida, when a special education teacher and a general education teacher collaborate to provide in-class supports for students with disabilities, they’re called co-teachers or support facilitators.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Training and technical assistance for collaborative teaching are provided by FIN.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
[ A video of students working on papers is played ]
When teachers teach together, there are a variety and a combination of approaches that should be used to provide specially designed instruction and intensify instruction in the general education setting. In this video, we will provide an overview
[ Six cards with teaching approaches are shown ]
of the following six approaches, parallel teaching station, teaching alternative teaching teaming. One, teach, one assist, and one teach. One observe.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
[ Video transitions to students learning in class ]
One approach used to intensify instruction is parallel teaching. Both teachers teach the lesson to equally divided groups of students. The teacher-student ratio is greatly reduced. In this approach, students are able to respond more frequently, and formative assessment data is more easily collected.
[ The video fades to black and shows a student learning via Station Teaching ]
This approach should be used frequently in station teaching. The teacher student ratio is also reduced, but the purpose and number of stations can be varied. Usually, students rotate through two teacher led stations and one or two independent stations. Students can receive additional practice opportunities, additional instruction, more intensive instruction, or receive extension activities related to the topic. This approach should be a frequent one.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
[ Video transitions of students learning via the Alternative teaching method ]
Alternative teaching is done when one of the teachers convenes a small group of students for a short time at the beginning or end of class for a specific purpose. Alternative teaching allows for review or preview of difficult concepts or vocabulary, extension, or enrichment activities, or for another intentionally planned purpose. Alternative groups should consist of different students for different purposes and should not be made up of the same students every time. This approach should have occasional use.
[ The video quickly transitions to students learning via the Team Teaching method ]
Team teaching is when teachers present the lesson together to the whole group. Often teachers team teach in order to show different ways to do the same thing, or so that one teacher can demonstrate note taking or ask strategic questions for the benefit of student learning. The recommended use for team teaching is occasional. In one teach, one assist, one teacher leads the whole group, and the other teacher walks amongst students, offering assistance in maintaining attention, correction of observed errors or other support. This approach should be used infrequently because it does not provide the intensity of instruction seen in other approaches, nor does it allow for the delivery of specially designed instruction.
[ The video transitions to students learning via the One Teach One Observe method ]
One, teach one observe is recommended infrequently and for short periods of time. This approach is used primarily for data collection related to student IEP goals, formative assessments, or other intentionally planned purposes.
[ The video fades to a FIN logo screen with a title of “The Six Collaborative Approaches” ]
The six collaborative approaches can be a powerful way to provide specially designed instruction for students with disabilities, as well as more intensive instruction in a general education setting.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
For training, coaching, and other technical assistance supports, please contact FIN.
[ The video fades to the FIN logo with a link to https://fin-network.org ]
[ A black screen is shown with the words: “A special thank you to the School District of Palm Beach County, Principal Gail Pasterczyk and Dr. Lyndsey Zurawski. Thank you also to the faculty, staff and students at Eldbridge Gale Elementary School. Additional thanks to the PS/Rtl – Technology and Learning Connections project for the collaboration on this film. For more information and training opportunity, visit https://fin-network.org and contact your local FIN facilitator. ]
Using Collaborative Teaching Walkthrough Tool Video
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the FIN Session on using the Collaborative Teaching Walkthrough Tool. Finn is in individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDA funded state project by Florida Department of Education, division of K 12 Public Schools, bureau of Exceptional Education and Students Services. Finn collaborates with all districts and schools to provide customized services and supports ensuring all students with disabilities have the same educational, social, and future opportunities as their peers. In partnership with districts, fin facilitates the implementation of best practices through data-driven, student-focused planning and problem solving across districts and schools, data-driven professional learning and technical assistance to increase knowledge and skills of district and school personnel, coaching and resources for district and school personnel to build and sustain capacity and sharing information to build collaborative relationships between families, schools, and districts. To meet the requirements of Section 1003 0.03 of the Florida Statutes, Finn Trains teacher teams working with students with disabilities.
(01:03):
Recently, Finn created a work group to update materials on delivering specially designed instruction in general education classrooms. Using the six collaborative approaches and evidence-based practices, Finn promotes consistent expectations for how collaborative teaching is implemented collaboratively taught classrooms should look different, and the CT walkthrough was adapted by the work group to support technical assistance for teaching teams. Using the CT walkthrough tool is simple. Start by planning a classroom visit that lasts no more than 15 minutes. This observation can be conducted by an administrator, a fin facilitator, an instructional coach, or anyone familiar with the six collaborative teaching approaches. The tool is not evaluative. It’s designed to guide and support the development of effective collaborative teaching teams. During the visit. Observe the teaching partners ideally during small group instruction and document your observations using the tool. Then schedule a follow-up meeting with the collaborative team within one week to celebrate successes and identify areas for growth.
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For continued support or problem solving, reach out to your district specialists or Finn. One of the most common questions from administrators is, what should I see when I walk into a collaboratively taught classroom? To help answer that, FIN developed the Collaborative Teaching Walkthrough tool. This tool is not evaluative. Instead, it offers a helpful guide for what to look for in classrooms with two teachers working together. What you’re seeing here is the top of the first page of the tool. It’s designed to be used across multiple visits. In this section, you’ll record classroom demographics, the date of the visit, and the name of the observer. The three sections within the tool indicate different levels of implementation. For a collaborative team, new teams would most likely be reflected in items one through five, whereas more experienced teams will demonstrate progressively more items. Items one through five focus on the fundamentals working together to deliver and support instruction.
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Setting high expectations through shared planning and showing equal partnership in the classroom. Teams with some experience teaching together often by midyear, are typically reflected in items six through 10 of the walkthrough tool. At this stage, the focus shifts to how the team collaborates to support student progress. Observers should look for evidence of formative and summative assessments, the use of flexible grouping and grading practices that align with district procedures. Items 11 through 15 reflect how instructional supports are provided by the teaching team. At this level, you should see strong student engagement, the use of universal design for learning, and a clear focus on achievement for all students. Teams should also be embedding specially designed instruction within the six collaborative teaching approaches and consistently using accommodations or modifications to meet individual student need. The rating key used reflects these three options. An item is observed during the visit.
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An item is not observed, but was expected to be observed, or the item was not observed or expected to be observed. After the observation, a follow-up discussion is scheduled with the collaborative teaching team. The second and third page of the tool include detailed descriptors for each indicator. These help observers compare classroom examples to the expectations outlined in the tool. Remember, this is a coaching tool, so interactive discussion is encouraged after the classroom observation. The descriptors shown here are for items one to three. These are sample observations for items four through six. Keep in mind, not every descriptor needs to be present for an indicator to be considered observed. However, these descriptors are valuable tools for guiding meaningful conversations during follow-up discussions with the teaching team. This is the third page of the tool, beginning with item seven and ending with 11. Again, the indicators get progressively more complex and reflect stronger practices in collaborative teaching.
(04:36):
These are the final descriptors for items 12 to 15. The areas of focus at this level are aligned with the provision of specially designed instruction and specific strategies to reinforce the content taught using strong tier one instruction. As a reminder, the collaborative teaching walkthrough tool is not intended for evaluative purposes. After the observation, a debriefing should take place to review what was seen during the visit. This should include a facilitated discussion where team members reflect on their strengths and identify areas for growth. Together, the teachers and observer can then plan next steps and determine what additional supports may be needed to strengthen the collaborative partnership. For more information and resources, please visit the FIN website. Additional training and information about the use of the walkthrough tool are available from fin. The QR code will bring you to our directory and help you locate your local fin facilitator. Thank you for watching our collaborative Teaching walkthrough tool video.
Collaborative Teaching Partnerships – What Administrators Need to Know
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Collaborative Teaching Partnerships. What Administrators Need To Know, Finn is an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act idea funded state project by the Florida Department of Education Division of K 12 Public Schools Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services. This video was designed to share ways that you as administrators can support teaching teams within your schools to effectively provide supports and services for students with disabilities. Fin collaborates with all districts and schools to provide customized services and supports ensuring all students with disabilities have the same educational, social, and future opportunities as their peers. In partnership with districts, Finn collaborates to support schools through data-driven, student-focused planning and problem solving across districts and schools, data-driven professional learning and technical assistance to increase knowledge and skills of district and school personnel, coaching and resources for district and school personnel to build and sustain capacity and sharing information to build collaborative relationships between families, schools, and districts.
(01:10):
You can access the materials that are provided to teachers via this Padlet, which is permanently available on the FIN website. Scan the QR code to open it. To help administrators understand collaborative teaching. Let’s look at what teachers learn from Finn our training covers these six key topics. As you can see, many elements are essential to effective collaborative teaching, knowledge of roles and responsibilities, co-planning the provision of specially designed instruction and the six service delivery models and approaches are covered in depth during FIN collaborative teaching training offerings. Ensuring that specially designed instruction is delivered to students with disabilities with fidelity is one of the primary purposes of collaborative teaching. We discuss specially designed instruction here in the context of providing in-class supports for students with disabilities. However, specially designed instruction is a much larger compliance-based topic for students with disabilities. Collaborative teaching is only one way that it can be provided, so if these are elements of effective collaborative partnerships, what elements should administrators see during classroom visits?
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First, there are several key pieces of legislation that have impacted best practices for supporting students with disabilities in school settings. We’ll review these now. All students, including students with disabilities, must be taught to high standards and schools must provide supports to help them reach those standards. The every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 mandates that all students must be taught to high standards. Schools must address the needs of those at risk of not meeting high state standards divided into subgroups, including students with disabilities. If the subgroup falls below the federal index percentage of 41% schools must include a plan to address the subgroup in their school improvement plan.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act addresses, mandates for special education and states. The general education classroom must be the first placement consideration with needed aids and services provided. Section 1412 of Title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulation states that students with disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, must be educated with students who do not have disabilities. The term regular education environment includes regular classrooms and other settings across the school. In Florida, a student with a disability receives education in a general education class setting, reflecting natural proportions and age appropriate groups in core academic and elective areas within the school community. Students with disabilities are valued members of both the classroom and school community. Teachers and administrators support education for all students and have the knowledge and resources to effectively teach all children. Access is provided to technical assistance in best practices, instructional methods and supports tailored to the student’s needs.
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Based on current research section 39.0016 of the Florida statutes addresses high expectations for students with disabilities. It emphasizes their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom and the provision of appropriate services, aids, and supports in the least restrictive environment. Supporting students with disabilities in the general education setting has many benefits, including the improvement of social skills, boosting academic achievement, and building peer relationships. Meanwhile, students without disabilities engage deeper in academics, benefit from support strategies and have an increased awareness of differences. Educators enhance their teaching skills, share educational responsibilities, and foster collegial relationships. For the purposes of this video, the term collaborative partnerships refers to the combination of co-teaching, team teaching and support facilitation. While many students with disabilities spend most of their day in general education classes, districts must offer a continuum of alternative placements. This graphic describes the provision of services as a range of service delivery models that schools can use to provide services to students with disabilities.
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In their IEP team, determined, least restrictive environment, students on access points can participate in a general education classroom with the support of a special education teacher for any of these service delivery models, the IEP team must discuss the time a student spends with peers without disabilities. Florida statute 1003 0.03 requires that teachers who teach together must be trained within the first year of assignment. Additionally, at least one member of the team must have three years of teaching experience and at least one member must be teaching in field. There are multiple ways for teachers to receive this training. They can be trained by a fin facilitator either virtually or in person. Districts may also provide their own training for team teachers. A newer option is the completion of a 15 hour independent course on the Beast Portal for Professional Learning Alternatives. Parody between general and special education teachers is crucial for successful collaborative teaching partnerships, parody suggests a balance of roles, treatment and behavior in the classroom. This means equivalent rank or skill level between teachers, shared materials and both teachers’ names posted. The goal is to maximize support for students with disabilities. Parody is essential for developing and maintaining successful partnerships and administrators play a key role in encouraging this balance.
(06:56):
Collaborative teaching is a partnership of professional reciprocity. This means that one teacher is not the assistant to the other and neither is assigned to support only specific students. Instead, both teachers share equal responsibility for all students in the classroom. They must be flexible and able to shift roles throughout the day and week adapting to the needs of their students and the dynamics of the classroom. The graphic illustrates how both teachers bring their unique expertise to the partnership, creating a more comprehensive and supportive learning environment. In the previous slide, we showed the roles and responsibilities of general and special education teachers. Now let’s address the roles and expectations for paraprofessionals or teacher assistants. Paraprofessionals assist instructional staff. They don’t require a teaching certificate and must work under a certified teacher’s supervision.
(07:51):
Paraprofessionals are a valuable asset to the educational team, but there are constraints on their responsibilities. It’s also important to understand the activities that paraprofessionals are not allowed to perform without the direction or supervision of a teacher. A 2022 study on collaborative teaching and outcomes by renowned researchers shows a significant relationship between educational placement and high school outcomes. The study indicates that students with disabilities in less restrictive settings earn different diploma types compared to those in more restrictive settings. This suggests that students in general education settings engage in more rigorous courses and are better prepared for post-secondary education and employment opportunities.
(08:36):
Collaborative teaching and the positive outcomes mentioned earlier are not automatic administrators must understand its critical components and support general and special education teachers in implementing best practices for students with disabilities. The six collaborative approaches implemented during a collaborative partnership focus on the delivery of instruction. The first three utilize small group instruction, which increased the intensity of instruction for students while the last three utilize whole group instruction. Each approach is intentionally planned based on the lesson content and needs of the students. For information regarding the six collaborative approaches or the roles and responsibilities discussed, you can access FIN’S best practice card on collaborative teaching via our website. While there are six collaborative approaches, it is important to remember that research has shown that the implementation of small group instruction increases the intensity of instruction for all students, including students with disabilities. Students become more engaged in their learning, leading to higher student motivation and improved learning outcomes.
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For students with disabilities specially designed instruction involves adapting the content, methodology or delivery of instruction to ensure they can access the general curriculum. The definition of specially designed instruction does not specify where these services must be provided, but rather emphasizes the importance of ensuring access to the general curriculum. Characteristics of specially designed instruction include several key aspects. First, it’s important to consider which IEP goals are being addressed today. Emphasizing intentionality. The methodology for students with disabilities involves direct and explicit delivery of instruction or the use of methods such as task analysis, repetition, or fading. These methods can start as just good teaching, but can evolve into specially designed and instruction for some students. Specially designed instruction is always purposeful, planned and monitored through data collection, and it not only provides access to the general education curriculum, but is designed to promote progress. Specially designed instruction is the reason the special education teacher is an integral part of the teaching partnership. This image illustrates the components of universal instruction from the left to the right, each column illustrates one of the components. Notice the blue column is the only column that is an actual special education service. However, all of the components of universal education apply for students with disabilities, including students who are instructed on access points.
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Finn’s Fact Folio Volume five created in collaboration with Florida’s problem solving. Response to intervention project focuses on how including students with disabilities in a multi-tiered system of supports could look in a school setting. It highlights how teams can collaborate to offer specially designed instruction throughout the tiers of instruction for students with disabilities. Meet Kathy, a sixth grade student with an IEP that addresses her needs for intensive support in reading, vocabulary and decoding multi-syllabic words, solving multi-step word problems and managing behavior. Therefore, Kathy receives tier three interventions for reading tier two interventions for math and supports in the general education classroom. Her special education teacher, Mr. Smith, collaborates with general education colleagues to provide specially designed instruction across all tiers throughout her six period school day. Planning is an essential requirement for the success of any collaborative teaching partnership. This section of the video will address critical components of planning.
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Scheduling time for teacher partners to co-plan is critical for the success of collaborative partnerships. However, it is the number one barrier to effective collaborative teaching nationwide. The secret to effective planning for collaborative teaching is to realize that face-to-face planning should be just a single component of the process. Much of the detail of preparing daily lesson plans does not happen in person. Teachers planning should include the use of one or more of the six approaches to incorporate specially designed instruction for students with disabilities. Missing this component minimizes the instructional impact that these approaches can have. Each teacher has responsibility for sections of the lesson planning. The general education teacher keeps most responsibility for planning the general lesson plans based on the required curriculum. While the specialist focuses on the unique needs of students with disabilities, teachers may need to adjust their planning practices to utilize a three-part planning process.
(13:19):
Periodic planning, which involves macro planning with a clearly articulated agenda that addresses specialized instruction as well as curriculum content, electronic planning, where the bulk of planning should occur. The general education teacher has primary responsibility here, while the special education teacher fills in specially designed instruction and specific strategies. On the spot planning involves quickly touching base about day-to-day teaching matters, using brief snippets of time, often during bell ringer activities, transitions, and other moments throughout the day. Teacher partners should use electronic planning as their primary means of outlining details and dividing responsibilities for day-to-day instruction, basing their efforts on their face-to-face planning. A wide array of electronic options exist for this purpose, and they easily accommodate asynchronous planning while providing a record of teachers instructional design. Effective collaborative planning begins with macro planning. This occurs for an hour every three to four weeks with each teacher team.
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During this time, the team discusses upcoming curriculum, content, activities, and projects. They also review data and identify points of difficulty. In the upcoming instruction, teachers discuss patterns for their co-teaching and share successes or challenges in their teaching partnership. Since the last macro planning session, following and adhering to the timeline of this planning framework allows teams to effectively cover a large framework of instruction. Having a lesson plan alone isn’t sufficient. You need to evaluate the lesson plan content for these elements. First, lessons should show evidence of co-planning that integrates both teachers’ areas of expertise to the maximum extent. Second, teachers are integrating the use of whole group and flexible groupings regularly to match the learning needs of students. Last, there is evidence that teachers share responsibility for regularly, including differentiated instruction, content, and assessments into their lessons considering the needs of all students, administrators can support teachers in co-planning by maintaining open communication, discussing student data, supporting UDL and DI frameworks, and providing a structured format for planning.
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Effective scheduling of supports for students with disabilities is crucial for creating a master schedule to provide in-class assistance to students with disabilities. Stable teaching partnerships allow these relationships to grow based on factors like content, expertise, and student needs. Teams should establish and protect dedicated planning time and should monitor a range of student data to direct their planning. Providing team teaching training as required by Florida Statute 1003 0.03 is crucial for equipping teachers to support students with disabilities. In general education classes, teaching partners must undergo required training available through FIN the district or the BPLA portal. Other training topics for consideration include collaborative teaching, specially designed instruction, differentiated instruction, instructional strategies, universal design for learning, and classroom management.
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Implementing collaborative teaching approaches takes time and may require technical assistance. Finn has developed the collaborative teaching walkthrough tool to help leadership teams provide non-evaluative feedback and coaching support to teachers. This non-evaluative tool can be used by various individuals to offer job-embedded coaching and support for collaborative teams. Finn can support leaders in the use of this helpful tool. As a wrap up, we invite you to consider some key questions to ensure that the infrastructure, policies and procedures in your district or at your school effectively support all students learning needs. First, do we provide access to technical assistance in best practices, instructional methods and supports tailored to students’ needs based on current research? Is there a schedule for specially designed instruction across in-class service delivery models? Finally, do special education and general education. Teachers use the frameworks of DL, and DI to support the learning of all children. For more information and resources, please visit our [email protected]. If you would like further support, contact your local fin facilitator for assistance by visiting our website and clicking the About Us tab to find your county and your fin facilitator. Thank you for watching our video today.