Co-teaching: Equity for English Learners?

Abstract

This study adds to the current understanding of co-teaching in rural school systems, specifically its use to equitably serve the needs of English learners (ELs). The authors investigated one western U.S. rural district’s implementation of a co-teaching model where general classroom teachers shared teaching responsibilities with an English as a second language (ESL) teacher in a secondary school setting. Research has long shown traditional pull-out models for teaching ELs are not the most effective because there is often a disconnect between what is happening in the mainstream classroom and what is happening in the pull-out placement. This quantitative study included observations of 20 co-taught classes during 400 minutes of classroom instruction to measure fidelity to the district’s co-teaching model. This article details the extent to which teachers utilized specific co-teaching strategies. It also reports on the quantity of teacher-student interactions in general and relative to ELs and non-ELs. Observations revealed that EL students worked primarily with the language specialist, and most of those interactions took place in the context of individualized support. Implications regarding equity and opportunity to learn academic content for both EL and non-EL students are discussed.