Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners

Help ELLs achieve success with an integrated, collaborative program! This resource provides a practical guide to collaboration and co-teaching between general education teachers and ESL specialists to better serve the needs of ELLs. Offering classroom vignettes, step-by-step guidelines, ready-to-use resources, and in-depth case studies, the authors help educators: Understand the benefits and challenges of collaborative service delivery Teach content while helping students meet English language development goals Choose from a range of collaborative strategies and configurations, from informal planning and collaboration to a co-teaching partnership Use templates, planning guides, and other practical tools to put collaboration into practice

About the Author :
Learn more about Andrea Honigsfeld's PD offerings Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is Associate Dean and Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. She directs a doctoral program in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Hungary (Grades 5-8 and adult) and an English-as-a-second-language teacher in New York City (Grades K-3 and adult). She also taught Hungarian at New York University. She was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship at St. John's University, New York, where she conducted research on individualized instruction and learning styles. She has published extensively on working with English language learners and providing individualized instruction based on learning style preferences. She received a Fulbright Award to lecture in Iceland in the fall of 2002. In the past twelve years, she has been presenting at conferences across the United States, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. She frequently offers staff development, primarily focusing on effective differentiated strategies and collaborative practices for English-as-a-second-language and general-education teachers. She coauthored Differentiated Instruction for At-Risk Students (2009) and co-edited the five-volume Breaking the Mold of Education series (2010-2013), published by Rowman and Littlefield. She is also the co-author of Core Instructional Routines: Go-To Structures for Effective Literacy Teaching, K-5 and 6-12 (2014), published by Heinemann. With Maria Dove, she co-edited Coteaching and Other Collaborative Practices in the EFL/ESL Classroom: Rationale, Research, Reflections, and Recommendations (2012) and co-authored Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (2010), Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades K-5: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades 6-12: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner (2014), Collaboration and Co-Teaching: A Leader's Guide (2015), Coteaching for English Learners: A Guide to Collaborative Planning, Instruction, Assessment, and Reflection (2018), five of which are Corwin bestsellers. Learn more about Maria Dove's PD offerings Maria G. Dove, EdD, is Associate Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, where she teaches preservice and inservice teachers about the research and best practices for developing effective programs and school policies for English learners. Before entering the field of higher education, she worked for over thirty years as an English-as-a-second-language teacher in public school settings (Grades K-12) and in adult English language programs in Nassau County, New York. In 2010, she received the Outstanding ESOL Educator Award from New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (NYS TESOL). She frequently provides professional development for educators throughout the United States on the teaching of diverse students. She also serves as a mentor for new ESOL teachers as well as an instructional coach for general-education teachers and literacy specialists. She has published articles and book chapters on collaborative teaching practices, instructional leadership, and collaborative coaching. With Andrea Honigsfeld, she coauthored five best-selling Corwin books, Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (2010), Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades K-5: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), and Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades 6-12: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), Collaboration and Co-Teaching: A Leader's Guide (2015), Coteaching for English Learners: A Guide to Collaborative Planning, Instruction, Assessment, and Reflection (2018). The same writing team also co-edited, Coteaching and Other Collaborative Practices in the EFL/ESL Classroom: Rationale, Research, Reflections, and Recommendations (2012), published by Information Age. With Audrey Cohan, she also coauthored Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner (2014).

Review :
"Effective collaboration between professionals promotes success for English learners only when all parties share both a deep understanding of the educational issues involved and a firm commitment to academic excellence. This work provides a compelling coverage of the demographics of the English learner population, a comprehensive overview of the strengths and drawbacks of various program designs, and a foundation for cultural and linguistic advocacy for language-minority students. In one useful handbook, the authors address the rationale for co-teaching and the means to do so, offering a user-friendly introduction to collaboration involving all members of the school-site team. This guide has it all!"--Lynne Díaz-Rico, Professor of Education "A valuable resource for preservice and inservice training of school administrators as well as ESOL and mainstream teachers. Honigsfeld and Dove have researched and compiled a very thorough guide for establishing various forms of collaborative learning environments and ESL co-teaching models that can benefit ELLs. This book helps start and guide the conversation between all the parties involved--administrators and teachers alike!"--Constance E. Dziombak, President, New York State TESOL "The most comprehensive text on the topic that I've seen to date. The book is written for a wide spectrum of educators: ESL specialists, general education teachers, administrators, and researchers--the entire education community is addressed. The authors include the tools for busy teachers, including checklists and charts."--Linda New Levine, ESL/EFL Consultant "This easy-to-read book empowers educators to work collaboratively in planning and teaching to meet the needs of English language learners in co-taught classrooms. This book makes a contribution toward successfully educating students in diverse classrooms."--Richard Andrew Villa, President "This important book fills a critical need for current information about the collaborative process and should be in every educator's professional library."--Scott W.C. Lawrence, Director of Curriculum "This new resource is exceptionally timely. The book provides educators with a much-needed road map for making true collaboration and co-teaching a reality. Based on the authors' own experiences and the experience of others who work with English language learners, this book offers schools the kind of guidance they need to provide a high-quality education to English language learners, the fastest-growing segment of the public school population. At a time when school are facing limited resources and more demand for improved student performance, the kind of effective instructional approaches described in this book are essential for educators and English language learners alike. It is a must-have for every school!"--Jana Echevarria, Professor Emerita "Through intriguing questions and illustrative vignettes, Honigsfeld and Dove masterfully guide us in understanding the essentials of collaboration when planning, implementing, and assessing instruction for students who are acquiring English as an additional language. A must-read for educators wishing to create a professional leaning community where insights about ESL instruction can be shared."--Diane Lapp, Distinguished Professor of Education "Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove highlight the importance of a whole-school approach to the teaching of ELLs where the collective expertise of teachers is harnessed through collaboration and co-teaching. This approach ensures that ELL students are not isolated from their peers and all teachers gain access to instructional strategies that promote student engagement and accelerated academic development."--Jim Cummins, Professor "Honigsfeld and Dove have written a comprehensive book on collaboration between mainstream and ESL teachers. This is an essential read for teachers and administrators who wish to effectively implement collaborative strategies that benefit ELLs in their schools."--Judie Haynes, Professional Development Provider "There are several books available on teacher collaboration and co-teaching, but this is a must-read for everyone who delivers or oversees ESL programs. It not only invites ESL and general education teachers to collaborate, it also takes them and their administrators through the process step by step, offering numerous ready-to-use templates, online resources, case study vignettes, and assessment tools."--Diane B. Scricca, Superintendent "This book is a great resource that focuses on collaborative practices and numerous co-teaching models while presenting several case studies to illustrate the ideas presented. One of the book's strengths is that the role of the administrator is included in each chapter. The authors recognize the importance of administrative support to ensure the success of collaborative and co-teaching strategies."--Bud Read, Supervisor of Academics "This book is a road map for collaborative practice with a focus on English language learners. The vignettes offer a window into the complex and diverse challenges of teaching in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts. The what, when, where, how, and why of collaborative practice are discussed, and the book provides valuable online resources and helpful references for further research and exploration."--Dorit Kaufman, Professor of Linguistics, Director of Professional Educational Program "This groundbreaking book provides a strong foundation for both teachers and administrators who want to establish more supportive, inclusive learning environments for their English language learners. This research-based work explores the many facets of collaboration and provides the reader with the tools to begin co-teaching. Its practical ideas and questions help teachers move collaboration and co-teaching to the next level."--Heidi Bernal, Director, English Language Learner Department "This text is a detailed how-to manual thoroughly grounded in research and best practices. The authors move from basic definitions to the needs of ELLs to cogent reasons for using collaborative methods to help students meet success. It should be required reading in teacher preparation programs and a much-used resource for inservice teachers."--Anne M. Wilding, TESOL Field Placement Supervisor "This text is a guide to successful practice, from laying the initial groundwork, to classroom and curriculum planning, to administrative and school design, to evaluation design, with examples and forms that can be utilized by the reader throughout. The authors present a realistic look, with optimism for this exciting venture of collaboration and co-teaching in the context of ELLs, as well as challenges and pitfalls, but always with helpful solutions."--Jana Noel, Professor and Community Engagement Faculty Scholar