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In this video, there are two groups of students being taught. One group reads and answers questions in a small group with their teacher. The other group is reading independently around the room. In this model, one teacher can provide supports to students while keeping them in the same environment as general education students.

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In this video, both teachers play an equal role in the classroom. Both women are in the front of the room, interacting with students in turns while teaching together. In this model, students receive information from both teachers.

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Co-teaching a Mini lesson in an ELL First Grade Classroom

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Parallel teaching allows students to work in smaller groups while receiving the same lesson. Parallel teaching is beneficial in creating a conducive environment for participation by reducing the competition for a teacher's attention.

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Increasing instruction and Modeling Teamwork 

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Increasing instruction and Modeling Teamwork 

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This article lists five major benefits students receive when they are in co-teaching classrooms. Students gain valuable time with their teachers when the ratio of student-teacher is decreased.

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Thursday, February 18, 2021

by Matt Christensen

Five clear benefits to the multi-teacher classroom

Every classroom, whether general or special ed., is full of challenges and opportunities. Among these is the unique task of being able to engage students on a whole-class level, as well as in ways that appeal to their unique strengths and address their needs as individuals.

Co-teaching is more than just "two teachers, one classroom." It's a model of shared responsibility that allows for professional collaboration during planning, instructing, and assessing students. In any classroom setting, co-teaching allows students and teachers to experience and benefit from a wide range of learning styles, teaching techniques, and data-driven instruction, while promoting inclusion and a sense of community among a unique group of people working toward the same goals of success and growth.

"By using a co-teaching model, our intervention specialists are able to rely on each other to differentiate learning for our students," says Jodi Johnston, Principal and Director of Admissions at Julie Billiart's Lyndhurst campus. "One intervention specialist can be leading the lesson, while the other intervention specialist is redirecting, providing needed support, or collecting data. This approach benefits our students because it provides more personalized instruction, which allows us to see how those supports are working and what may need to be adjusted."

Benefits of the co-teaching model are numerous, but there are five that can directly impact the day-to-day and long term progress of your student.
1. Reduced teacher-to-student ratio
JB models classrooms so that two teachers educate a maximum of 16 students, resulting in a 1:8 teacher:student ratio. This ratio is 1:6 in grades K-2 at JB. According to the Education Commission of the United States, the average ideal teacher:student ratio in all classrooms is 1:15. By employing a co-teaching model, a classroom with a maximum of 16 students essentially cuts that ratio in half, allowing for more individualized attention, less potential for distraction, and greater student engagement on both individual and whole group levels.
2. Increased instructional options
When two teachers facilitate a classroom community, students are able to connect with each one differently. Co-teaching affords both students and teachers more one-on-one / small group time during which they can bond more meaningfully, observe each other, and ultimately become aware of the most productive ways to interact. In addition, co-teaching allows for the co-planning process of lesson design to include insight from both instructors regarding how to reach students most effectively based on data taken during these small group sessions.
3. Greater student engagement time
"It's great having a co-teacher because I can focus more on the content I'm teaching while the other teacher serves as a nonverbal prompter," says Patrick Koenig, first grade intervention specialist. "While the lead co-teacher presents a lesson, the other co-teacher can float around the room while helping students follow the group plan and absorb the content more efficiently. Instead of letting students get distracted by needing to sharpen pencils, or having difficulty finding the correct page, the floating co-teacher helps them remain focused on the main points of the lesson, which is especially important at the primary level."
4. Modeled teamwork
What better way to shape social skills than seeing two teachers work together? Collaboration and cooperation are at the heart of the co-teaching model, which allows the teachers to model appropriate behavior while interacting with one another. With effective co-teaching, students are exposed to daily lessons in encouragement, politeness, teamwork, and support without ever having to open a book. Instead, the co-teachers instill the importance of such behaviors through their example, interactions with each other, and direction of the class.
5. Balance and time management
Teaching can be exhausting. But, to be an effective educator each day, a teacher has to be aware, alert, and engaged. The co-teaching model supports teachers in this way by allowing them to divide and conquer everything from daily routines, to progress reports and parent conferences, to grading papers. Having another adult in the classroom is essential for giving students the resources they need to succeed, avoiding wasted time, and establishing procedures that allow students to feel comfortable in any learning environment.

Thanks to the students and teachers who have passed through Julie Billiart's halls, we've continued to refine the co-teaching model to be an effective tool in special education. To learn more about how Julie Billiart educators collaborate and cooperate in and out of the classroom, contact our admissions team at admissions@jbschool.org.

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How The Co-Teaching Model Benefits Children | February 18, 2021 | Julie Billiart Schools | Helping K-8 students with learning differences in Akron, Brecksville, Lyndhurst, and Westlake, Ohio

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by Matt Christensen Five clear benefits to the multi-teacher classroom Every classroom, whether general or special ed., is full of challenges and opportunities. Among these is the unique task of being able to engage students on a whole-class level, as well as in ways that appeal to their unique strengths and address...

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Placing Students in the Least Restrictive Environment 

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Placing Students in the Least Restrictive Environment 

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In this video, every student with an IEP can learn in a general education classroom. Placing students in an LRE is made possible by special education and general education teachers pairing up to co-teach their students.

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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Unified is supporting its special education students with a unique program.

The district has a strong focus on inclusion, stressing that every student is a general education student first. Thanks to the co-teaching program, each student that receives special education services won't miss out on that classroom experience or one-on-one teaching time.

McLane High School Education Specialist Vanessa Clifton is one of two teachers in her high school classroom.

"We have amazing teachers both on the general education and education specialist side," said Clifton. "We're able to help the students with diverse learning needs really have access to the curriculum."

In co-teaching classrooms, there's a general education teacher and an education specialist. The team works together to provide special education students the same curriculum, in the same setting as their peers.

"Making sure we're giving them what they need to be successful and that's what it's all about," said Clifton. "They are being given the experiences of being normal teenagers and students."

The education specialist is not only there to instruct, but make sure special education students are getting the help they need.

While McLane High School has offered co-teaching for several years, this is the first year that every student on an individualized education plan is part of a co-teaching classroom.

"It has been a joy seeing students make small gains and having those small gains build up to them graduating with a high school diploma," said Clifton.

Each co-teaching classroom has around 30 students. All of these students are learning the same curriculum and meeting California State Standards.

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McLane High School co-teaching in the classroom, supporting special education students

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The team works together to provide special education students the same curriculum, in the same setting as their peers.

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This list includes benefits of co-teaching, including increased student engagement and the expansion of inclusion in the general education classroom for students with disabilities.

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This slide within this co-teaching workshop discusses how co-teaching and inclusivity need to be priorities in the school to receive the amount of support needed to co-teach.

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Co Teaching Workshop - Download as a PDF or view online for free

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In this video, Mrs. Bjerke is an example of a supporter in the One Teach, One Support model. By constantly walking around and offering help to all students, she is always available for students.

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Special Education and Regular Education: Working Together

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Co-Teaching requires teachers to respect each other and develop a relationship built on teamwork to be successful in the classroom.

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Impossible. That was my first thought when I saw the class roster. In one of my ninth grade English classes, 13 of my 27 students had IEPs. Additionally, about one-third of the students had failed the class the previous year. I dreaded the first day of school. But then something wonderful happened: The principal assigned me a co-teacher, a special education expert to serve as another set of hands (and eyes and ears!) during this class every day. I was thrilled.

My co-teacher Sandie was a joy to collaborate with, but our relationship was by no means perfect, especially at the beginning. We often struggled to find planning time. Sometimes we disagreed about how to best help a particular student. However, we nurtured the co-teaching relationship and, in time, found a rhythm that worked for us-and for the students we served.

In the years since I co-taught with Sandie and other teachers, I've coached and consulted with dozens of successful and not-so-successful teams. Co-teaching, when done well, offers benefits for both students and teachers. When not done well, it can be confusing or downright frustrating for all involved. If you are or will be part of a co-teaching partnership, this post will show you some ways to make your partnership work beautifully.

What is Co-Teaching?

In a co-teaching relationship, also known as a "push-in" arrangement, a general education teacher partners with a specialist who may be certified in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, or some other special population. A co-teaching team works in the general ed classroom; for the majority of the time, students with special needs are not pulled out to receive services in another location.

For instance, a middle school social studies teacher may have an ELL teacher co-teaching with him during one class period because five students in that class are newcomers to the United States and speak only Arabic fluently. A high school teacher may have one or two sections of biology to which many students with IEPs for reading are channeled; a co-teacher who specializes in reading disabilities co-teaches in these classes. A 4th grade teacher may have two students with 504 plans and another three who have specific learning disabilities in her class; she works alongside a special education teacher daily during lessons in the four core academic subject areas.

For more background, download this Brief History of Co-Teaching.

Co-Teaching Structures

General education teachers working with specialists in a "push-in" model often work in one of the following structures described by Friend and Cook (1996):

One teach, one observe: One teacher delivers instruction while the other observes student learning. Usually the observer collects data on student understanding so that the co-teaching team can better plan future instruction. Sometimes, specific students are watched closely so that the teachers can determine new strategies to use with them.

One teach, one assist: One teacher takes the lead in providing instruction while the other moves around the classroom, assisting struggling students. This help is not limited to students with special needs; the assisting professional is there to serve whomever needs support.

Parallel teaching: The class is divided in two groups and the same material is presented simultaneously by both teachers. The teachers plan the two groups deliberately to maximize the success of all students; this is not simply a "pull-out" or intervention group sitting in the same room.

Station teaching: Both teachers are actively involved in instruction as students are divided into groups and rotate from one station to the next. There may be stations where students work independently or with a paraprofessional in addition to the two stations the co-teachers facilitate.

Alternative teaching: One teacher takes a small group of students and provides them more intensive or specialized instruction that is different than what the large group receives from the other teacher.

Team teaching: Both teachers teach the content at the same time in tandem or "tag team" fashion.

It is important to note that both teachers have equal status and equal responsibility in all six of these arrangements. In the co-teaching relationships that work best, at no time is one teacher seen as subordinate to the other. Both professionals are credentialed professionals, although each may have his or her specific areas of expertise.

How to Make the Most of a Co-Teaching Partnership

Researchers and practitioners have tons of advice about how to co-teach effectively, and as a person who has been "in the trenches" with several different co-teachers, so do I. The advice below sums up the most common recommendations.

1. Respect each other.

Not surprisingly, mutual respect is critical to the co-teaching relationship. You'll have to share ideas openly and do much of your work facing students together, so respecting each other is paramount. Sometimes you'll disagree, and that's to be expected. As co-teacher and ELL specialist Melissa Eddington says, it's fine to disagree with someone's ideas, but don't make the disagreement about the person.

Teachers in co-teaching situations that don't work well often report feeling disrespected. Amy* is an ELL specialist paired with a middle school social studies teacher. When they collaborate, Amy feels her suggestions for tweaking whole-class lessons are not taken seriously by her partner. "She respects me as a professional," Amy says of her co-teacher, "but I think because I'm not experienced in her content, she doesn't see my input as valuable."

Susan*, who is licensed in both secondary science and learning disabilities, works with two physical science teachers and one biology teacher. The physical science teachers welcome her ideas and eagerly adjust their lessons based on her suggestions. They are seeing a steady increase of students mastering the required standards in the classes Susan supports. The biology teacher, however, dismisses many of Susan's ideas and accuses her of "dumbing down" his content. Susan feels disrespected and finds it hard to even be in the room with the biology teacher because he constantly positions himself as "the expert" and places her in a subordinate role.

Words and gestures speak volumes. Take care to show respect for your partner in all you do.

2. Clearly define roles and responsibilities.

Co-teaching works better when the partners agree on who does what, when. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities prevent either partner from feeling the other has overstepped a boundary or shirked responsibilities.

Natalie Marston (2002-2015), an elementary special ed teacher, recommends co-teachers reach agreement on scheduling, classroom procedures and behaviors, classwork and homework policies, grading, and school/home communication together so they present a united front at all times.

Obviously this type of planning requires a great deal of time, ideally before school starts. If extended time is not available prior to the beginning of the school year, then the co-teaching team should expect to put in extra hours before and after school in the first few weeks so things get off to a good start.

My co-teacher Sandie and I did not have advance warning of our assignment. We found out about it on the first teacher workday, leaving us only a few days before the students arrived. For weeks, we both felt like we were playing "catch up and keep up," but found that having lunch together (and some happy hours together) helped us stay in sync.

3. Be flexible.

Innovation is difficult. That's why so many teachers find themselves falling back on comfortable (and even tired) activities and strategies. Co-teaching allows you to gain another person's perspective on how instruction might be improved, how students might be best assessed, what resources to use, and so much more. Sometimes this means one person has to put aside his or her favorite tried-and-true strategy and try something different.

When Susan suggested a tactile, quiz-like method for reviewing the periodic table to her physical science co-teaching partners, they were skeptical about the time and materials it might require. They initially felt it would be more efficient to simply give additional notes to their students and then pair students to quiz each other. However, they agreed to try the review Susan's way. The students loved the activity, and almost every student with special needs passed the chapter test two days later. All three teachers were thrilled and committed to using the activity in future years.

4. Plan together.

The co-teaching relationship brings together two people with wonderfully rich expertise and experiences. Special educators are typically skilled in individualizing curriculum and instruction based on children's needs (Dettmer et al., 2005; Volonino & Zigmond, 2007). General educators, on the other hand, tend to have broad knowledge of the curriculum, standards, and desired outcomes for the larger group. Therefore, when general educators plan lessons, they tend to aim for the masses (Dettmer et al., 2005). Both perspectives are important, and co-teaching teams need ample planning time to work through how to best utilize each one.

Lack of planning time can lead to territorialism. Without time to plan for a good balance of content and individualization, a general ed teacher may become protective of his subject matter, or a specialist may become protective of his students. Emma*, a high school special ed teacher partnered with two geometry teachers, has experienced this. One teacher often asks Emma to pull aside the five or six students with specific disabilities within his class and work only with them. He sometimes says to her, "You worry about your kids. I'll worry about geometry." The principal is now providing an additional hour of planning time for Emma and this teacher. An assistant principal who oversees the math department facilitates the meetings so Emma feels supported and the geometry teacher has another content-area expert to hash things out with.

Keep in mind that planning must include both instruction and assessment. Considering many students with special needs have legal accommodations for assessment (like being provided translation, extended time, or oral reading), it's best to include both partners fully in designing quizzes, tests, papers, and other high-stakes assessment tasks.

How much time is ideal? One study found that co-teachers desired, on average, 15 minutes to an hour each day for planning (Dieker & Murawski, 2003). This figure corresponds to what worked for my co-teacher and me, and it also confirms what I hear from many co-teachers in the field. Strive to find that time any way you can.

5. Don't take yourself too seriously.

Innovation requires failure. Many times, teachers feel they've failed somehow during instruction, and in reality, the students haven't even noticed. We are often our own worst critics. Revisiting or correcting something later in the day (or the next day) doesn't mean you failed earlier. It means you've learned something since. This is the kind of ongoing learning we want to model for our students.

And, as in most situations in life, a little bit of humor goes a long way. Laugh with your co-teacher. Allow students to see both of you laughing with each other and with them when something is surprising, silly, or just doesn't go the way you planned. In the words of Jennifer Wolf who co-teaches with Melissa Eddington, "Take the work seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously."

Eddington adds, "You gotta laugh at each other! Our job is hard, and if you're not laughing and making light of some things, then it's just not going to be a good place to be."

6. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Planning time is one thing; constant communication is another. Not only should co-teachers frequently plan for what standards will be covered, how material will be taught, and how students will be assessed, they should also regularly communicate in less formal ways.

Co-teaching teams have different methods to create and sustain that communication:

Eddington and Wolf use the Voxer app throughout the school day and on their drives home to send messages back and forth. Voxer works like a walkie-talkie and allows back-and-forth conversation in real time when two people are not physically close to each other. Melissa says, "We're constantly communicating. We're talking about specific students. We're looking at assessments to see what areas are lacking...different things we want to bring to the classroom, things we don't want to do..."

Some other teams I've worked with use texting and emails throughout each day to share updates. Voxer, texts, and emails can all work well, especially if one teacher has urgent information or an urgent question about a particular student.

Teams can use Google Docs or other shared documents to keep track of lesson planning and to share feedback with each other on how lessons went. Collaborative documents can also be used to provide each other with information about targeted students.

In addition to ongoing communication, Ariel Sacks (2014) reminds us to periodically check in with our co-teacher about how we are doing in general. She recommends asking your partner the following:

Are there management items we should clarify, such as when are students allowed to go to the bathroom?

Are we sharing airtime well?

Are we dividing grading in an equitable way?

Would different teaching formats better utilize the two of us in the classroom?

Finally, co-teachers need to present a united front when dealing with parents. Some partners go as far as to create a shared email address from which all communication flows. This may or may not be practical in your situation. At the very least, important parent communication about a student's progress should be drafted by both parties.

For more in-depth information about communicating and collaborating with your co-teacher, see Communicating and Collaborating in Co-Taught Classrooms (Conderman et al., 2009).

7. Seek administrative support.

Sometimes, teachers have been scheduled to co-teach by administrators but didn't have much advance notice. This is what happened with Sandie and me. We were able to find snippets of time during the school day to use for planning and checking in with each other, but we had no common planning period. If you and your partner don't have a common planning time when you can frequently collaborate, ask for it. Go to your principal with a couple of proposals about how this can work without too much disruption to the rest of the schedule.

Sometimes co-teachers may not understand fully why they are being asked to team. If this is the case, ask for a meeting with the principal and any others responsible for the assignment. Ask them why they thought the two of you would be a good fit and what they hope you will accomplish with students.

If you're already in a co-teaching partnership that's not working well, and you've tried to address this with your partner, turn to a trusted administrator next for advice. If you and your co-teacher have not recently been observed, ask the administrator to come sit in on part of a lesson. Tell him or her what you'd like feedback on or what feels like it's not working well. Debrief with the administrator, ideally with your co-teaching partner. When an observer offers data and feedback to both of you, it may feel different for your partner than when you share things from your perspective. (This co-teaching observation form can help.)

It's important not to go to other teachers with your concerns. Respect the collegial relationship you have with your co-teacher and don't do anything that might undermine it. And it should go without saying that you don't want students to perceive any problems within the co-teaching relationship. Be cognizant of your demeanor, tone, and body language. Students are quite perceptive and can easily spot trouble. They are also experts at "good cop/bad cop." Don't let students play you and your partner against each other. If your colleagues or students give you any evidence that they know the co-teaching arrangement is ineffective, head straight for that trusted administrator to support you. ♦

*These names have been changed.
References:
Conderman, G., Johnston-Rodriguez, S., & Hartman, P. (2009). Communicating and collaborating in co-taught classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus,5(5). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967751.pdf

Dettmer, P., Thurston, L., Knackendoffel, A., & Dyck, N. (2009). Collaboration, consultation, and teamwork (6th ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.

Dieker, Lisa A., Murawski, W. M. (2003). "Co-teaching at the Secondary Level: Unique Issues, Current Trends, and Suggestions for Success." The High School Journal, 86(4). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220220652/13494E2D48D1DB506F0/8

Friend, M. & Cook, L. (1996). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Marston, N. (2002-2015). Six steps to successful co-teaching: Helping special and regular education teachers work together. National Education Association. Retrieved January 26, 2017 from http://www.nea.org/tools/6-steps-to-successful-co-teaching.html

Sacks, A. (2014, October 15). Blog post. Eight tips for making the most of co-teaching. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/15/ctq_sacks_coteaching.html

Volonino, V. & Zigmond, N. (2007). Promoting research-based practices through inclusion. Theory into Practice, 46(4), 291-300.

Learn More

Angela Peery is the author of The Co-Teacher's Playbook, which will be available in September 2019.

Links to this book are Amazon Affiliate links. Cult of Pedagogy gets a small commission for all purchases made through these links.

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When done well, co-teaching offers benefits for both students and teachers. When not done well, it can be confusing or downright frustrating for all involved.

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In this image, we see two teachers working with their students. In team teaching, the teachers are equals and are both able to help students complete assignments simultaneously.

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Virtual conference convenes education leaders from around the world to consider a redesign of the classroom

America does not have a shortage of licensed teachers. It does, however, have a shortage of people who want to teach.

High pressure. Low pay. Little encouragement. More responsibilities heaped on each year. These are a few of the reasons the profession is bleeding personnel.

But that could change if educational institutions consider systemic and structural approaches that spark imagination, encourage collaboration and improve outcomes for both teachers and students.

That's one of the many insights that emerged at Next Education Workforce Summit 2022, a virtual conference hosted last week by Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

"We need to think about school communities as teams. We have to think about how to build a team of adults around us that may include key school personnel and outside key personnel," said keynote speaker John B. King Jr., president of the Education Trust and former U.S. Secretary of Education during the Obama administration. "The important thing is that young people have powerful, positive relationships with adults who are helping them acquire the skills they need for long-term success. ... We also need to think about how do we shift our culture to a continuous improvement culture."

In addition to King, other experts who led conversations about these topics - collaborative partnerships, school funding, policies, inclusivity, teacher retention, infusing tutoring in the classroom, workforce pipeline and team-teaching models - were Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association; Patricia Levesque, CEO of Excelin Ed; Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact; David Steiner, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and professor of education at Johns Hopkins University; Sarah Beal, executive director of US PREP; and Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

The two-day event, held Feb. 2-3, encouraged education practitioners, leaders and experts to explore how colleges of education and others are working in partnership with K-12 schools and communities throughout the country to design the Next Education Workforce.

The virtual summit attracted approximately 300 participants from public and charter schools, universities, think tanks, nonprofit organizations and foundations. These participants represented three continents; 38 states and the District of Columbia; 85 school districts; 60 institutions of higher education; 50 school support organizations; and 60 organizations who support education through philanthropy, government and media.

The summit was the outgrowth of work that the education college has been pursuing for five years - work rooted in the recognition that the education workforce needs a total redesign that takes a team-based approach to instruction if school systems hope to retain teachers and improve outcomes for learners.

"When I said Next Education Workforce, I'm not talking about a generation from now. I'm talking about what we need to do right now to think differently about staffing our schools," said Brent Maddin, executive director of MLFTC's Next Education Workforce initiative and organizer of the summit. "If we build teams of educators who have distributed expertise, we can leverage that to personalize and deepen learning not just for some kids, but for all kids. And if we arrange our profession and design our workforce this way, it creates new ways to specialize and to advance."

According to a Learning Policy Institute report, teacher education enrollment has dropped by 35% in recent years. In Arizona, there are 35,000 people who are certified to teach but have opted not to ply their trade for a variety of reasons.

Domenech said schools around the nation are closing not because of fewer students, but because "the workforce is not there."

"There's going to have to be a shift, and we can no longer do things the way they used to be," he said in a Feb. 2 panel discussion. "The team idea has such great promise and is a significant option. Great things can be done."

Experts at MLFTC have said for years the one-teacher, one-classroom model is outdated by a few centuries and was originally conceived for the industrial era. That's why the college is working with school districts locally and throughout the country to adopt a different approach where students are served by teams of educators that include certified teachers, specialists and trained volunteers (called community educators) who can address individual learning needs.

Carole Basile, dean of MLFTC, said this team-based model is a way to offer teachers "more flexibility in their classrooms, improve working conditions and also stop the isolation of teachers. With that comes advancement opportunities and all kinds of things that help us retain our teachers."

This approach is no longer conceptual or a new "big idea." Thousands of students are now being taught this way, and what MLFTC started in 2017 is not just catching on, but catching fire.

The Mesa Public School District, which educates more than 60,000 students and is the largest in Arizona, has been struggling to retain full-time teachers, substitutes, paraeducators and staff. The district is now building Next Education Workforce models in 19 of the district's schools. These models establish teams of educators that share rosters of students and adapt instruction to meet the individual needs of each student, leveraging expertise among certified teachers, paraeducators and other adults in an educational role.

"What was most important in the Mesa Public Schools community is that our students, when they walk across that graduation stage, that they have had experiences from preschool all the way to 12th grade, so they will not just graduate but be ethical, inclusive and resilient," said Andi Fourlis, superintendent of Mesa Public Schools. "And then when you see those skills, you'll also see someone who is a collaborator, a community contributor, a creative thinker and innovator, and a problem-solver. ... That's what our business community is asking for."

Fourlis said the collaboration with MLFTC has been so successful she hopes to incorporate Next Education Workforce models in 50% of her district's schools by 2023.

In breakout sessions on Feb. 3, nine schools offered anecdotal testimony on how they've incorporated team-based models into their classrooms.

One of them was the Center for Advanced Research and Technology, a school in Clovis, California, that serves students from two districts. Teachers there say they enjoy collaborative teaching experiences and witnessing student achievement.

They do this by combining rigorous academics with technical, design, entrepreneurial and critical-thinking skills. Classes are taught by three rotating instructors in chemistry, physics and English.

Dave Watson, CEO of the center, said students benefit greatly from this model.

"After their experience at our school, students walk away feeling as if they can accomplish anything."

And at Bronx International High School in New York, a culturally diverse institution that educates approximately 400 students - most of whom have been in the United States for less than four years - a new design is also making a big difference in student outcomes. Teachers there are broken up into "academic teams," and students work on interdisciplinary projects with various instructors.

Their approach to teaching and student assessments are done in a collaborative manner, according to science instructor Jesusa Merioles.

"We meet twice a week and visit each other's classrooms so that we can address a myriad of problems," said Merioles, who has been at the school for almost a dozen years. "Student achievement is the bottom line as teachers, both individually and as a team."

Maddin, who organized and hosted this year's event, said the summit was successful on many levels. This included the presentation of the content, the number of participants, the exchange of ideas and the networking opportunities afforded to those who virtually attended.

"We think next year's summit will be even bigger," Maddin said. "We are excited by the number of national partners who are committed to building more sustainable staffing models in schools that produce better outcomes for both educators and learners."

Learn more about the Next Education Workforce and review the 2022 Next Education Workforce Summit.
Top photo: Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College instructors demonstrate what a Next Eduction Worforce model looks like in a classroom setting at Sonoran Sky Elementary in Glendale. Photo from 2019.

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New team-teaching model ready for breakout year

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America does not have a shortage of licensed teachers. It does, however, have a shortage of people who want to teach. That was one of the insights that emerged at the Next Education Workforce Summit. The two-day event encouraged education practitioners, leaders and experts to explore how higher ed can work with K-12 schools to improve the education system.