Frederick County Public Schools outlines plan to standardize co‑teaching, expand training

Frederick County Public Schools staff told the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee they are moving to standardize co‑teaching across the district and expand professional learning so teachers can co‑plan, co‑teach and co‑assess more consistently.

The district presented a working definition of co‑teaching as “a partnership between two teachers that include shared planning, instruction, and assessment of students with and without disabilities,” and said the model includes partnerships between general education teachers and either special education or multilingual teachers when appropriate. FCPS staff said the emphasis is on inclusive, grade‑level instruction with targeted supports inside the classroom.

Why it matters: District leaders said research supports access to rigorous instruction in general education settings for students with IEPs and that an intentional co‑teaching program can improve access without removing students from grade‑level lessons. Staff described co‑teaching as a lever both for student access and for teacher professional growth.

Most important facts: FCPS will focus professional learning on three co‑teaching models — station teaching, parallel teaching and team (or “team‑teaching”) — because staff said those models create the most adult–student engagement. The district has run smaller pilots and a consortium of 14 schools through the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) to observe and coach classrooms. Staff said they are using central‑office monitoring and feedback to identify model classrooms that can serve as exemplars across school levels.

FCPS staff emphasized that co‑teaching implementation differs by level: elementary, middle and high school schedules and student needs require different structures. To make co‑teaching sustainable, staff said it must be planned into master schedules; leadership presentations about scheduling and student selection were scheduled for February so principals could factor co‑teaching into next year’s staffing. Staff also described a book study using Elevating Co‑Teaching with Universal Design and external expert support from national consultants and local grant partners to build capacity.

What staff said about common challenges: Presenters and committee members raised recurring barriers such as finding common planning time, avoiding ad hoc “pulling” of one co‑teacher for other duties, and overcoming cultural resistance in some buildings. FCPS staff said they are developing “guardrails” for administrators — guidance on reasonable assignments and placement decisions — and will use self‑assessments and surveys to collect teacher feedback and measure practice change.

Discussion and follow‑up: Committee members asked how parents are told when a student will receive co‑taught services. FCPS staff said co‑teaching can and should appear in the services section of an IEP where it is the agreed service delivery model; push‑in services that do not include shared planning would be recorded differently. Staff also said program leaders will target specific classrooms for data review and progress monitoring to determine whether students need more or less restrictive services over time.

The committee received a demonstration of resources and next steps: continued coaching through CTTL, district monitoring visits, book‑study cohorts, leadership briefings in February and a planned May 3 retreat at Hood College to review audit recommendations and next steps with special education leadership.

Ending: Staff asked committee members to share feedback, volunteer for pilot work where appropriate and consider the district’s invitation to attend professional learning; FCPS said it will return with more implementation details and data from the classroom monitoring work.