Co-Teaching History

The Co-Teaching model was first implemented in Dearborn Public Schools during the mid to late eights with special education teachers co-teaching in vocational classes. In 1991 the Dearborn Public School District was chose for an innovative, state funded special education program. Co-Learning in the Classroom for Kids (CLICK) is a pilot program funded by the Michigan Department of Education. The goal of the program is to show that mildly impaired special education students can thrive in regular education settings with cooperative learning strategies. More structured co-teaching models began in 2005. As Principal of Salina Intermediate, Dr. Maleyko began to implement the co-teaching model. By 2007, most secondary schools in the district began to use the co-teaching model in order to maximize learning outcomes for ALL students in our district.

In 2016-17, part of Dearborn’s strategic plan is to implement Co-Teaching in the Middle and High School with more consistency. Additionally, Dearborn started to pilot the co-teaching model at three elementary school’s in the district and is looking to expand the model to additional schools for the 2017-18 school year.

In March of 2016 Dr. Maleyko created the Co-Teaching steering committee to improve the effectiveness of co-teaching within the Dearborn district. The committee includes teachers and administrators of all levels. The committee meets monthly. In 2016-17 Dearborn contracted with co-teaching expert, Anne Beninghof, to provide professional learning opportunities for all co-teachers in Dearborn. We are very excited about the future of co-teaching  and the impact it will have for all of our students.