When you prioritize co-planning and co-teaching, it shows in the culture and in the classrooms. W-L High School in Arlington, Va. is proof of this. MCIE has had the privilege of partnering with W-L to provide professional learning and coaching rounds, and the results have been nothing short of remarkable.
MCIE designed a thoughtful, multi-step process built around what we know to be effective for adult learners. It began with professional learning, where co-teaching pairs explored:
- what strong core education instruction looks like
- how to adapt it for students with disabilities
- how to co-plan specially designed instruction (SDI)
- and the structures behind the major co-teaching models.
After that initial session, teachers weren’t told what to focus on next. Instead, they were given time to reflect and talk as partners. Then they were asked what type of observation and feedback they wanted from the MCIE team. Several pairs chose station teaching. Others selected parallel teaching. One pair wanted to examine evidence of parity within their co-teaching relationship.
Once teachers identified their focus, the MCIE team visited classrooms to observe, then met with each pair afterward to debrief. Indicators were provided so that teachers could celebrate their strengths and identify what they wanted to stretch and grow. Importantly, the teachers themselves surfaced their next steps and shifts in practice naturally through conversation. From there, the team offered resources and implementation support.
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with three themes rising to the top.
- Teachers really liked the autonomy for them to select what they wanted feedback on.
- Several pairs also shared that having the indicators to reflect on during the coaching conversations was very helpful.
- They also expressed that the space and time to process what they learn with their colleagues was priceless.
None of this happens without the right people at the helm, and W-L has them.
Principal Alexander Duncan III and Assistant Principal Maggie Hsu have been an integral part of the work’s success. They dedicated the time for professional learning and coaching and coordinated coverage to make this work possible.
Hsu’s contribution has also been largely relational. She is acutely attuned to her staff and has continued the work between MCIE visits: touching base with teachers individually, checking in, facilitating conversations, keeping the momentum alive.
Across the United States, one of the most persistent barriers to strong co-teaching is the lack of protected collaborative planning time for general and special educators to co-plan SDI together. W-L is not immune to this challenge. This time is not yet explicitly built into the master schedule. But here is what makes W-L different: they know it, they name it, and they are actively working to change it.
Collaborative planning time is not just a building goal. It is part of the strategic plan for Arlington Public Schools. That is a real celebration. It’s one thing to tell teachers they should co-plan. It’s another to acknowledge the barrier, commit to solving it systemically, and put it in writing.
W-L is doing two things well: they are prioritizing time for meaningful, ongoing professional learning and coaching, and they are creating the structural conditions for that learning to stick.
But perhaps the most important celebration belongs to the teachers themselves. These are skilled, experienced educators who are choosing to be vulnerable and to reflect honestly on their own practice, to be observed, and to grow. That kind of courage is not small.
The fact that these educators can see how changes in their teaching will more deeply support their students is what this work is all about.