Co-teaching for students with learning disabilities: One middle school’s journey

Abstract

Co-teaching is a popular service delivery option for students with learning disabilities (LD), yet its overall efficacy is questionable. Variance in teachers, students, quality of instruction, and types of co-teaching make it challenging to meet criteria for quality group experimental study. Schools must determine the effectiveness of their co-teaching programs based on their goals and students. The purpose of this article is to describe one middle school’s journey to determine if co-teaching would be an effective service delivery model for students with LD at risk for school failure. A school-university team implemented a pilot study, followed by a two-year period assessing student achievement data. Results indicated that co-teaching narrowed the achievement gap between students with and without LD. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.