What does it mean to build a balanced classroom? Most teachers and administrators are well aware of the factors involved in creating a balanced general education classroom, taking things like academics, personality, and behavioral support needs into consideration.
Building a balanced co-taught classroom, while similar in some ways, has additional factors to consider in order for it to meet the needs of all students. With the addition of a special education teacher and students with IEPs, the balanced co-taught classroom must be selective about which general education students are a good fit for the class.
Let’s take a look at what you need to know to set co-taught classrooms up for success! Disclaimer: The following are guidelines only and should not take the place of professional expertise and knowledge of individual student needs.
What is Integrated Co-Teaching?
- A service delivery model for some students with IEPs
- A setting with two teachers whose combined expertise supports a wide variety of learners with and without disabilities
What Integrated Co-Teaching is NOT:
- An opportunity for struggling students without IEPs to get extra support
- An appropriate placement for a general education student with behavior support needs
- Easier because there are more adults
Every educator and administrator we know has the best interests of the students in mind when they place them in co-teaching. The placement of struggling general education students in a co-taught class, however, has a detrimental effect on the ability of the teachers to provide the mandated services and specially designed instruction to the students with IEPs. If a gen ed student is struggling beyond the point of what a general education teacher can support, they should be brought up for evaluation.
Strong General Education Candidates for a Co-Taught Class:
- Self-starters with average to strong levels of independence
- Average to above-average overall academic performance
- Average to above-average social skills with an emphasis on empathy and problem-solving
These are guidelines, and of course all students have areas of strength and weakness. If a student meets most of the above criteria, but struggles somewhat in math, for example, they can still be considered a good fit for the class.
Additional Considerations:
Ratio: For the best outcomes, the ideal ratio is 70% general education students to 30% students with IEPs. A commonly used guideline where we are in New York is 60/40, but there is no stated regulation about ratio here. The New York State regulations do state that a class may not exceed 12 students with IEPs unless a variance is filed and approved, up to 14. These requirements and regulations vary from state to state.
Behavior Support: We experience a wide variety of opinions on this in our work and the following is based on our professional experience and knowledge of best practices. Students with behavior support needs as a result of their disability can be placed in ICT. Behavior support needs should not automatically exclude a student with a disability from a co-taught class. General education students or those with 504s who have moderate to significant behavior support needs should not be placed in ICT.
504 Plans: A 504 plan is a general education service and the accommodations needed should be met in a general education classroom. As such, best practice is to follow the guidelines for placing gen ed students. Individual considerations may be made, but placement in ICT should be the exception, not the rule.
We understand that each student deserves consideration based on their individual needs and see every year how thoughtful teachers are with their placement recommendations. Our hope is that the guidelines provided here will serve as a support for all teams as you learn and grow towards building a school-wide understanding of how to create balanced co-taught classes.