What is Parallel Teaching – Model Teaching

Published October 26, 2026

Consider two third grade teachers teaching a lesson on equivalent fractions. They divide their class into two heterogeneous groups, with each group consisting of a mix of academic levels. The teachers teach the same content using a similar strategy, but with the smaller group, they are able to give attention to those who may be struggling. Within each group, you see that more students get a chance to respond when the teacher asks them to explain in their own words how two sets of manipulatives represent the same fraction value, and similarly, each teacher gets to hear more of what each of their students understands in the smaller group. Like your whole-class teaching, both teachers still stay actively involved in the instruction the entire time, just with a smaller group of students. This scenario describes parallel teaching, which is one of six common co-teaching models that you and your co-teacher can use to plan instruction together.

In this article, you will explore the definition of co-teaching and review the six co-teaching models. Then, you will take a closer look at one of those models, parallel teaching, and read more about when it works best in your classroom and how to plan for and then set up a parallel teaching lesson.

Co-teaching is most often defined as a way to provide educational services for special education students in the least restrictive environment (opens in a new tab). In other words, it is when students with special needs receive their instruction in a general education classroom, with the support of a special education teacher. Co-teaching is also sometimes found in other education settings, such as a certified teacher working alongside a student teacher, a lead teacher in a preschool or childcare setting with an assistant teacher, or any other scenario where two individuals work together to instruct a classroom of students. Sometimes you may also see it in classrooms where a variety of student needs exist in one class, and co-teaching becomes an option to better support all students within the classroom. Lynne Cook and Marilyn Friend, whose work has shaped most schools’ approach to implementing co-teaching today, define co-teaching as follows: “two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space” (Cook and Friend, 1995). In summary, you can read a quick breakdown of what co-teaching is and isn’t below.

When co-teaching is implemented effectively in the classroom, students will receive more instructional support and individualized attention, and also benefit from learning from a variety of teaching styles. An added non-academic benefit is that students will also see their teachers model positive working relationships and collaboration. For students with special needs, co-teaching also provides access to the general education curriculum and opportunities to learn academic and social skills from their peers. However, co-teachers can also face challenges, including conflicting teaching styles and philosophies, students and parents wondering who the “real” teacher is, limited planning time, and a lack of administrative support. It is important for co-teachers to engage in rigorous professional development and receive support from instructional leaders on campus to ensure that they can effectively manage and implement the co-teaching model with fidelity.

Cook and Friend (1995), who proposed the ideas that most schools use when implementing co-teaching, explained that co-teaching increases instructional options for all students, reduces the stigma students may feel when they leave class for services, and gives teachers professional support.

But how effective is co-teaching at specifically improving academic performance? Research on how co-teaching affects student achievement is still developing, and the results vary depending on the students, the classroom setting, and even how each study measured achievement. For example, a 2021 meta-analysis by King-Sears and colleagues found that there was a moderate positive effect for students with disabilities in classes where co-teaching was implemented, compared to students with disabilities who were instead taught in a special education setting. However, in a 2023 meta-analysis by Stefanidis and colleagues, which evaluated 28 studies, found that achievement in co-taught classes was not significantly higher than in classes with one teacher, but the authors noted that weaknesses in how studies described co-teaching and its implementation point to a need for more rigorous research.

Taken together, these findings suggest that placing two teachers in one room is a starting point, and the way you and your co-teacher use both teachers for instruction is what makes the difference. Hopefully, more educational studies will explore what benefits co-teaching has in the classroom, and design more rigorous studies that explicitly describe how the co-teaching was implemented within these studies. Being mindful of your purpose for co-teaching and explicitly planning how each teacher will work with and support students, and tracking and evaluating student progress throughout your co-teaching will help ensure that you are choosing lesson models and strategies that benefit all your students.

There are six typical models (opens in a new tab) of how co-teaching can be set up in a classroom. The table below summarizes each one, using the descriptions from Model Teaching’s Six Co-Teaching Models Reference Guide. The next sections take a closer look at parallel teaching, which is the focus for the remainder of this article.