Co-Teaching in the Multi-Level Classroom, Part I

Mindy Fattig is a nationally-recognized educator and co-author of Co-Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom with middle school teacher Maureen Tormey Taylor, which was recently published by Jossey-Bass. Fattig is the director of special education for the Del Norte Unified School District in California, an instructor in special education at Humboldt State University, and an education consultant. Her multi-level instructional model, which transformed a middle school, won a California State Model School in Special Education and a National School to Watch for its co-teaching program.

In the first of two installments, Fattig discusses how to overcome the resistance to co-teaching and why the co-teaching classroom is the ideal setting for inclusion.

How do you handle the division of responsibilities in a co-teaching classroom? As the regular education teacher, I find myself doing all of the grading and the majority of the planning. I don't think that the special education teacher I work with would mind doing more. I just don't know the best way to delegate some of the workload to her. After all, in the end, it is my name that goes on their report cards, permanent records, etc. I want things done right, but I don't want to work myself to death anymore.