GRST 501
Thesis Statement: Proven to be an efficient and beneficial resource within classrooms, co-
teaching is a strategy that provides a learning environment that allows students to the most
successful and reach beyond expectations.
Outline: Only if your assignment instructions from your other course do not provide ideas for
outline points, please use, or rearrange this structure for your outline and add to it or delete as
necessary. Regardless of the outline points you create; every main point should have at least two
supporting points or evidence (A & B) below it. Consult the presentation in Module 3 for more
outlining guidelines.
I. Introduction
A. The utilization of co-teaching has become a staple in classrooms within the
American educational system.
B. Co-teaching is a resource being utilized across the U.S. to provide differentiated
learning and varying teaching methods to best benefit students and their various types of
learning styles.
C. Proven to be an efficient and beneficial resource within classrooms, co-teaching is
a strategy that provides a learning environment that allows students to the most
successful and reach beyond expectations.
II. First Supporting Reason or Argument (backing up your thesis)
A. “Gifted education teachers and general education teachers emphasized the
valuable outcome of student learning when two instructors co-plan differentiated
instruction.”
B. Co-teaching has been described as a way for two professional educators to
“jointly deliver instruction to a diverse group of students . . . in a general education
setting and in a way that flexibly and deliberately meets their learning needs” (Friend,
Cook, Hurley-Chamberlain, & Shamberger, 2010, p. 11)
III. Second Supporting Reason or Argument (backing up your thesis)
A. Teachers’ relationships with their students, and making a difference in their lives,
are what drives teacher commitment (Fransson and Frelin Citation2016; Rytivaara and
Frelin Citation2017). Teacher–student relationships are known to have effects on, for
example, student behavior and academic performance (Baker, Grant, and Morlock
Citation2008; Liew, Chen, and Hughes Citation2010).
B. Working in a classroom with a colleague provides teachers with opportunities to
observe students individually and in their interpersonal relationships, as well as to see
their colleagues work and share their daily experiences (Takala and Uusitalo-Malmivaara
Citation2012).
IV. Third Supporting Reason or Argument (backing up your thesis)
A. Co-teaching consists of general and special education teachers who team to
instruct students with and without disabilities in the same classroom.
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V. The curriculum instruction provided when special and general education co-teachers
combine content and pedagogical expertise is assumed to be richer and more useful for both
SWD and students without disabilities (SWOD) (King-Sears et al., 2014; van Hover et al., 2012).
For example, Lochner et al. (2019) found that SWD and SWOD in co-taught classes exhibited
higher levels of cognitive engagement, linked to learning, in co-taught compared to solo-taught
general education classes. These findings illustrate Friend et al.’s (2010) observation that co-
teaching can be responsive to the diversity of today's learners.
VI. Conclusion
A. Co-teaching is a method that is beneficial to both teacher and students. It has been
shown to be an effective strategy in student learning and having more successful
outcomes for students.
B. Co-teaching is an invaluable resource and strategy within classrooms and
provides an environment where students can learn and grow to their highest potential.
Annotated Bibliography:
Anna Rytivaara, Jonna Pulkkinen & Iines Palmu (2023) Learning about students in co-teaching
teams, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 27:7, 803-818, DOI:
10.1080/13603116.2021.1878299. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Learning-
about-students-in-co-teaching-teams-Rytivaara-Pulkkinen/
176056490db8b0b59ce0df512f7efc45597c832d
This article examines how to support students effectively teachers need to understand their
students and therefore the utilization of Co-teaching allows for differentiated learning. It shows
how Co-teaching provides teachers with a better understanding of their students and their
diversity which therein lightens the teacher workload within inclusive settings to benefit the
teachers and the students.
Mofield, E. L. (2020). Benefits and Barriers to Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Examining
Perspectives of Gifted Education Teachers and General Education Teachers. Gifted Child Today,
43(1), 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217519880588
This article examines how special education teachers co-plan and co-teach with general
education teachers and the benefits of implementing this practice. It also highlights how it can be
a valuable resource to ensure student success within the classroom and how differentiated
learning is a key factor.
Margaret E. King-Sears, Abraham Stefanidis, Sheri Berkeley, Vasilis Strogilos, Does co-
teaching improve academic achievement for students with disabilities? A meta-analysis,
Educational Research Review, Volume 34, 2021, 100405, ISSN 1747-938X,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100405
This article examines how co-teaching between special and general education teachers is
beneficial to both the students and the teachers. It shows how academic achievement correlates
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GRST 501
with classrooms that are co-taught. It also examines the difference between co-teaching within
the general education classroom and the special education resource classroom environments.
Stapleton, J. N., Fogarty, E. A., Tschida, C. M., Cuthrell, K., & Chittum, J. R. (2020). Impact of
Coaching, Co-Teaching, and Student Characteristics on Teacher Readiness. Journal of
Teacher Education and Educators, 10(2), 0000-0003-4643–1431.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1313682.pdf
This article examines the differences between Co-teaching, instructional coaching, and Co-
teaching and instructional teaching with elementary teachers. The article shows how teachers
who are prepared and are able to utilize Co-teaching are more successful within their classrooms.
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