Strengthening Middle School Co-Teaching Through Coaching: Effects on Teacher Experience and Student Achievement

Co-teaching offers a means to promote inclusion and collaboration between classroom teachers and education specialists. It can also improve the quality of instruction in inclusive classrooms and job satisfaction for teachers as they strive to teach in increasingly neurodiverse classrooms. Despite guidance on elements and structuring, many pairs struggle with co-planning. There is a need to define what types of support coaching can best offer to co-teachers. This study of an established middle school co-teaching program sought to determine the effects of a coaching intervention on teachers’ experiences and student achievement. Results show that co-teachers value highly their partners and the co-teaching model for meeting the needs of students with IEPs and improving the quality of instruction. Coaching for co-planning improves classroom teacher confidence. Importance of and satisfaction with administrative support for co-teaching varied between ELA and math co-teaching pairs. Quantitative analysis of cohort achievement data found limited gains on the statewide ELA assessment for students with disabilities participating in co-teaching. Findings provide insight into coaching for co-teachers and shared leadership of effective co-teaching programs. We conclude with practical recommendations for administrators and co-teachers seeking to strengthen co-planning structures and shared leadership of co-teaching programs.