Co-Teaching in a Digital World: It's Not Teaching by Title, It's Teaching by Talent

Abstract

While virtual and online schools for students in grades K-12 gained in popularity before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and served a wide variety of student populations, including students with disabilities during the pandemic virtual teaching became the reluctant norm. As online school sites have begun to welcome students with disabilities, inclusive classroom practices such as co-teaching as a model for instruction became an interesting step. The purpose of this year-long, before COVID-19, case study was to better understand the implementation of the co-teaching model at an online K-8 school. Data analysis revealed salient themes which informed the following findings: A need for preplanning before implementation and sustained professional development during implementation, universal benefits for all students with accessibility within the least restrictive environment, and redefining the roles of general education teachers for successful collaboration. Implications and scholarly significance are shared.