Co-planning between special education and general education: a weekly routine

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

Co-planning between special education and general education works best as a fixed weekly meeting of 30 to 45 minutes with the same agenda. Review last week's data, preview next week's lessons and tests, choose a co-teaching model for each lesson, decide where each student's IEP goals and accommodations fit, then assign roles and write the decisions down.

Co-teaching without co-planning usually turns into one teacher teaching and the other walking around. The special education teacher arrives, finds out what the lesson is, and helps where they can. The IEP goals that were supposed to be worked on in this class get squeezed out.

A short, fixed planning routine fixes most of that. The general education teacher brings the content and the pacing. The special education teacher brings the IEP goals, the accommodations and the data. In 40 minutes a week, the two decide together where each student's goals fit into next week's lessons.

Collaborating with other professionals and running productive meetings are the first two practices in the core practice set published for special education teachers.^[1] The IEP also requires each teacher who carries it out to know their specific responsibilities and the accommodations they must give.^[2] Weekly co-planning is where both happen.

For the wider set of collaboration guides, start with the cluster overview in paraprofessional roles and responsibilities.

What you need before you start

A protected time slot each week, on the calendar for the semester.
The general education teacher's unit plan or pacing guide for the next 1 to 2 weeks.
A one-page summary of the IEP goals and accommodations for students in the class. The IEP at a glance template works.
Last week's goal data for each student with an IEP.
A shared planning document both teachers can edit.

The weekly routine, with times

Step	What you do	Time
1. Data check	Look at last week's goal data and any student concerns	5 minutes
2. Preview	General education teacher walks through next week's lessons and tests	10 minutes
3. Choose models	Pick a co-teaching model for each lesson	5 minutes
4. Fit goals and accommodations	Mark where each IEP goal is practiced and each accommodation is given	12 minutes
5. Roles and materials	Decide who preps what and who takes which data	5 minutes
6. Write it down	Record decisions in the shared plan	3 minutes

Step 1: Start with data

Open with numbers, not stories. "Aaliyah got 2 of 5 on Friday's probe" leads to a plan. "She's struggling" leads to a long talk. Keep it to 5 minutes.

Step 2: Preview the content

The general education teacher shows the lessons, the vocabulary and any test. The special education teacher listens for the hard spots: a reading-heavy lab, a long writing task, a test with many steps.

Step 3: Choose a co-teaching model for each lesson

Pick on purpose. Station teaching suits practice with different levels. Parallel teaching halves the group for discussion. Alternative teaching pulls a small group for preteaching or review. One teach, one observe is useful when you need clean data. The co-teaching glossary entry lists the common models.

Step 4: Fit the IEP goals and accommodations

For each student with an IEP, mark at least one place in the week where the goal is practiced and where data will be taken. Then check each accommodation against the lessons. If Tuesday has a quiz, who reads it aloud, and where? The guide on co-teaching and IEP goals explains how goals and grade-level content fit together.

Step 5: Assign roles and materials

Name who makes the guided notes, who preps the station materials and who takes each data point. Write it next to the lesson. Unassigned prep is the most common reason a plan falls apart on Wednesday.

Step 6: Write the decisions down

Use the same shared document each week. It becomes the record of where goals were taught, which helps at progress-report time, and it is what a substitute reads. See special education sub plans.

Worked example: a grade 7 math class

The class has 28 students, 5 with IEPs. One of them, Aaliyah, is a fictional student whose IEP goal says she will solve two-step equation word problems using a 4-step checklist, with 4 of 5 correct on weekly probes. Her accommodations are guided notes and a calculator for computation. Her baseline is 1 of 5.

The teachers meet Thursdays from 2:50 to 3:30. In the week 3 meeting:

Data check (5 minutes). Aaliyah scored 2 of 5 last Friday. Her errors were in setting up the equation, not the arithmetic.
Preview (10 minutes). Next week: Monday and Tuesday on two-step equations, Wednesday practice, Thursday review, Friday quiz with 10 items.
Models (5 minutes). Monday team teaching. Tuesday parallel. Wednesday stations. Thursday alternative teaching for a review group.
Goals and accommodations (12 minutes). Wednesday's station 2, run by the special education teacher, uses word problems with the 4-step checklist. Aaliyah and 3 others rotate through it for 12 minutes. Friday's quiz gets guided-note formulas on a card and a calculator for her.
Roles (5 minutes). General education teacher makes stations 1 and 3. Special education teacher makes station 2 and the probe. Special education teacher takes the 5-problem probe Friday.
Write it down (3 minutes). The shared plan gets one row per day.

Over four weeks, Aaliyah's probe scores are 1, 2, 2 and 3 of 5. In week 5 the data check shows she sets up equations correctly when the checklist is beside her but forgets step 2 without it. The team adds a check of step 2 to station work. The plan changed because data were on the agenda every week.

Common mistakes

Weak: "Let's plan when we can." Better: A fixed weekly time on both calendars for the whole semester.
Weak: The special education teacher sees the lesson for the first time in class. Better: The preview happens at least a week ahead.
Weak: Always one teach, one assist. Better: The model chosen for each lesson, based on what the lesson needs.
Weak: IEP goals are "worked on in class" with no time named. Better: A specific station, group or task, with the day and who takes data.
Weak: No notes. Better: A shared plan with one row per lesson.
Weak: The meeting becomes a talk about one hard student. Better: Timed agenda; a longer concern gets its own meeting.

Tools you can use

Goals for the general education setting, for goals that fit class routines.
How to collect data while teaching, for taking probes during stations.
Progress monitoring in the inclusion classroom.
The co-teaching agreement template, to settle roles before the first planning meeting.

Frequently asked questions

How much co-planning time do co-teachers need?

Many pairs manage with 30 to 45 minutes a week when they use a fixed agenda. New pairs, or pairs sharing several classes, often need more in the first semester while they set up routines.

What if there is no common planning time?

Ask the administrator for it first, since the schedule is set at the building level. Until then, use a shared document: the general education teacher posts the next week's plan, and the special education teacher marks goals and accommodations before a short 15-minute check-in.

Who leads the co-planning meeting?

Either teacher can run it, but many pairs alternate. The general education teacher leads the content preview, and the special education teacher leads the data check and the goals step.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

High-Leverage Practices for Students with Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children and CEEDAR Center
34 CFR §300.323: When IEPs must be in effect, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.