Collaboration and Co-Teaching for English Learners

A Leader's Guide

"This book is an important and much-needed resource for leaders who are supporting teachers of ELLs.  No longer is it possible for classroom teachers and ESOL specialists to work in isolation, and the effective support of their leaders is critical to teachers’ success in working collaboratively to foster the learning and build upon the rich resources of ELLs."

"Since ALL™ students are Academic Language Learners, it is essential that teachers collaborate to teach the academic language that aligns with content. Collaboration is a set of complex skills and attitudes that can be developed through focused leadership. Collaboration and Co-Teaching for English Learners: A Leaders’ Guide helps leaders connect vision (knowing collaboration is a best practice and why) with action (knowing how to promote collaboration) in their educational settings."

"In Collaboration and Co-Teaching for English Learners: A Leaders Guide, Andrea  Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove offer crucial support to school leaders who are working on achieving success with English learners. Their answer is clear: build a system for teacher collaboration!  This is a great read!"

"This book is the natural next step after the original Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners by Honigsfeld and Dove. It is vital that the very important audience of administrators and school leaders engage in the value of collaboration and co-teaching for ELLs. A solid research base and instant applicability are at the heart of this user-friendly, practical guide."

"Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove have done it again! In Collaboration and Co-Teaching for ELLs: A Leader’s Guide, they reframe and extend the timely conversation they began in 2010, now focusing on helping administrators provide collaborative services for English learners. They adeptly frame the pertinent issues while also offering helpful support for leaders at all levels, who are committed to ensuring equity for this growing population (of students), which presents numerous strengths as well as unique challenges. Honigsfeld and Dove recognize the heightened need for increased collaboration to support English learners’ success in schools during the current, shifting educational landscape. With this book they provide easy-to-implement resources specially tailored for school and district leaders so that they can use collaborative services to support English learners!"

“Creating an overall school climate of belonging is essential to collaborative practices for English Language Learners. School leaders need to know how to provide professional development on collaborative practices as well as how to monitor and foster the collaborative practices of their teachers and staff. Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove have provided a succinct, informative guide for both novice and experienced school leaders to create a successful collaborative practice at the school level. Every school that is looking into providing such services should have a copy of Collaboration and Co-Teaching for English Learners: A Leader’s Guide to help support it throughout the process.”

"Collaboration and Coteaching for English Learners: A Leader's Guide by Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove will become an essential go-to resource for any district or school leader working with teachers to enhance the lives of English Language Learners. Collaboration, co-teaching and similar strategies can only succeed if instructors receive adequate support from their administrators. Educational leaders become the linchpin for the success of English Language Learners and, as such, they need to be informed and knowledgeable about the many factors that impinge upon the learning of this population. In their accessible--yet theoretically and pragmatically grounded--style, Honigsfeld and Dove have once again produced a vital educational resource. The broad spectrum of leadership roles targeted in the book, together with the clear and rich organization of the chapters, strike the right balance in providing practical tools for action grounded in thorough research findings. Hence, this book is a must read for anyone leading teams of teaching professionals who share a passion for the learning of all their students and it comes at a time when this kind of resource is badly needed. We just need to wait for leaders to follow the example of their faculty, and this resource will certainly steer them in the right direction."

"Drs. Honigsfeld and Dove have written an invaluable companion volume to their earlier work illuminating the vital role of instructional leaders in effective schools.  In both its structure and content, the book provides school and district leaders with a realistic and comprehensive map for the creation of inclusive environments for English Learners and teachers.  Yet it is a work that also accessible to others who also have a stake in their success:  coaches, professional developers, members of governing boards, and the communities they serve.  I applaud the authors for its scope, its clarity and its wisdom."

"These are demanding times for our ELL population with the many academic and state mandated changes for providing services. The movement has catapulting ELLs into the spotlight and with it a greater emphasis on their academic achievement and acquisition of English language skills. The bar has been set high state-wide with the common core standards and the expectation that all students meet the criterion set forth for college and career readiness. How do we make this a reality for students that don’t speak English? To coin a phrase, 'it takes a village' and that village is based on collaboration among all teachers and administration through the development of true co-teaching models. That’s where Honigsfeld and Dove dominate the field and provide the strategies necessary for teachers to adopt a co-teaching model. In their first co-teaching manual they shared strategies, research, history, voices from the field and a how-to for teachers to begin the process of co-teaching effectively. The second book provides administrators the tools to facilitate the implementation of a co-teaching model by providing much needed guidance to educational leaders in developing curriculum, assessments and in the coordination of the team. The book is a perfect complement to an already rich menu of strategies for ELLs outlined in the first book. The pair is a staple in every school where ELL instruction and achievement are a priority. It comes at a perfect time when educators can no longer teach or manage in isolation. Rather they must work together to elevate the level of rigor in classrooms and hold high expectations for ELL students and those charged with providing the access to quality education. "