Lessons from the Assembly Line
After high school, I worked in a factory to put myself through college. The assembly line had production quotas, dictating how many “pieces” we had to produce per hour. One of the first things I learned was to look busy. As a young college student, my energy level was high, and I often finished the work quickly. After finishing, I would socialize with my friends who were also working to pay their way through college. The seasoned workers quickly told us that finishing early and chatting looked bad. They explained that we would be assigned higher quotas if we didn’t look busy when the foreman came by. At least that’s better than Amazon’s AI algorithms. Amazon employees get fired! While we could meet our quotas quickly, those who had been working for decades couldn’t keep up the same pace. If we looked like we had time to waste, it concerned management.
The Principal’s Dilemma
A couple of years ago, I was sitting next to a principal who had just been told by his superintendent to let go of three teachers. He was upset and struggling with the decision. He asked if I had observed a certain co-teaching pair. I had. He asked if I saw the special education teacher sitting in the back, focusing on one or two students while the general education teacher delivered the lesson. I had seen exactly that. He then asked, “How can I justify keeping that teacher when I can replace her with a paraprofessional who could do the same job?” Every time he walked by that classroom, the special-education teacher was sitting in the same spot, working with the same few students. This teacher had resisted all coaching to change her practice and be more involved. If he had to choose, why not choose that one?
The Need for True Co-Teaching
Unfortunately, this reality exists in more than one district. I’ve heard this story multiple times. In a time of budget cuts, principals must make difficult staffing decisions. It becomes even more crucial that special education teachers in co-taught classrooms truly co-teach.
Data Collection as a Co-Teaching Strategy
We know there are times when a general education teacher is direct teaching. What can the other teacher do besides position control, redirecting students, or quietly answering questions when this happens?
In this data-driven age of education, a valuable co-teaching strategy is to collect data while the other teacher delivers core instruction. This isn’t only the role of the special education teacher. Depending on who is teaching, both teachers should collect data. A great extension is for the general education teacher to collect data while the special education teacher is leading the class.
Practical Steps for Data Collection
While one teacher is direct teaching, the other can be in the background with a clipboard, pen, and chart to note student behavior. The data collector might observe:
- Are students engaged, sleeping, or off task? Looking out the window or texting?
- Which students came to class prepared?
- Which students struggle with note-taking and need extra support?
- Are specific students attentive, asking questions, looking confused but not asking, or sleeping?
Note these observations on the chart.
Using Data to Improve Instruction
After the lesson, the data collector—whether the general education or special education teacher—shares the results with their co-teacher. With this objective data (ensure it’s objective; don’t write that your colleague is boring the students to sleep), co-teachers can enhance their next lesson plan to address any issues. This data can also be used in IEP meetings, 504 meetings, RTI planning meetings, or other settings where student data is useful.
Responding to Observations
When an administrator, school board member, or parent walks through the room and sees one teacher teaching while the other stands with a clipboard and pen, both teachers can confidently answer, “We are collecting data. In this classroom, we plan data-driven instruction.”
 | CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of co-teaching strategies and resources to maximize student success!. Bring Susan to your campus!Featured seminar – Best Practices in Co-teaching and Collaboration: the HOW of Implementing the Models |