Co-teaching program at Acmetonia boosts learning, test scores

The lesson in Scott Andrews’ fifth grade English Language Arts class Wednesday was about sentence structure.

But as students worked through their assignments, it wasn’t just Andrews teaching.

Chelsea Brody, a special education teacher, was working in tandem with Andrews and the students as part of a co-teaching program at Acmetonia Elementary School that officials say has boosted test scores.

Acmetonia started the co-teaching model two years ago and is starting it at Springdale High School this year, said Melissa Holler, the district’s supervisor of pupil services.

Co-teaching is an approach to classroom instruction where two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher, work together to plan and implement instruction for a class that includes mainstream students and special education students.

“We have data to support that our students are making much better progress in the co-taught English model than they were when they were pulled out into a learning support setting,” Holler said.

That data includes the past five years of fifth grade English Language Arts test scores from the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System.

In 2018, Acmetonia fifth graders scored in the “well below” category for English, referring to average test scores across the state.

“By the time 2023 hit when we had implemented co-teaching, we were ‘well above’ (the average),” Holler said.

Co-teaching also decreased the amount of special education referrals. In grades 4-6, there were 12 referrals in the 2021-22 school year, 10 referrals in 2022-23 and nine referrals this school year, according to Holler.

Special education referrals are formal requests for students to be moved to strictly special education classrooms because of learning or behavioral problems in a mainstream classroom.

A 2020 state special education audit prompted Allegheny Valley to pursue the co-teaching idea.

“The number of students we had being pulled out was alarming. It was concerning,” Holler said. “So, we implemented co-teaching after that audit came out as a means to rectify students being pulled out of general education, and then our test scores went right back up.”

The district connected with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to provide co-teaching training for Acmetonia teachers.

“Students have a lot to gain from being in the general education classroom with their peers,” Holler said. “It’s a really good program. It’s been well-received by the parents, too.”

Fifth graders who were interviewed praised various aspects of co-teaching.

Student Grace Miller said having two teachers makes it easier for students to get help on assignments.

Grace, along with her peers, also said they appreciated having a male and female teacher in the classroom.

Students may relate to one teacher, and they may help them in different ways, student James Rhine said. How another teacher may word a lesson may resonate with some students better, giving them a better understanding of the subject material.

“When there’s a lot of students that need help, they can get the job done very fast,” said classmate Naomi Crenshaw.

“The more they help us, the more we can get it right, and the better chance of us becoming upstanding citizens in the future,” said Kahlil Heffron, another classmate.

Co-teaching not only improved students’ learning but also seems to boost their participation in class and social collaboration among their peers.

“The growth that I’ve seen year after year has been amazing,” Brody said.

Added Andrews, “I truly feel like it’s something the kids really benefit from.”