Why Co-Teaching for Multilingual Learners Isn’t Just a Trend—It’s a Game-Changer

Let’s be real—co-teaching isn’t exactly a new idea in education. People have been talking about teaming up to support students since at least the 1960s. But here’s the thing: most of what’s out there about co-teaching comes from special education. When my team and I set out to build a model that worked specifically for multilingual learners, we quickly realized something—there was very little guidance tailored to the kind of work we were trying to do.

So we built it ourselves.

We knew our model needed to be laser-focused on three big goals:

1. Making sure multilingual learners have real access to grade-level content.

2. Supporting students in acquiring English through content learning—not separate from it.

3. Creating job-embedded professional learning that helps both content teachers and ML specialists grow as co-teachers.

When we talk about “co-teaching” in our work, we mean something very specific. It’s not just two teachers hanging out in the same room. It’s a certified content teacher and a certified ML teacher truly sharing planning, instruction, and responsibility for a single group of students—multilingual learners and proficient speakers alike.

Together, these teams choose the right co-teaching strategies based on student needs and lesson goals. They intentionally address language demands through content instruction. And in doing so, they grow together—not just as educators, but as co-teaching partners committed to equity and excellence for multilingual learners.

We’ve seen this model work in Cherry Creek and in districts across the country. Educators are hungry for something that’s practical, sustainable, and actually makes a difference. That’s exactly what this book delivers—a roadmap for how to design a co-teaching program that works.

If you’re ready to rethink how you support multilingual learners and build the kind of co-teaching that transforms classrooms, check out the book—or reach out! I’d love to partner with your school or district for consulting or training to help bring this vision to life.

Together, we can create classrooms where every student, in every language, has access to success.