Layered Education

Flagship service

Both teachers in a true teaching role.

Coaching, facilitated co-planning days, and walkthroughs that move pairs past one teach, one assist, into models where the second teacher is doing something only a second teacher can do.

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Glynis in a planning meeting, papers on the table

Ever notice the co-planning advice stops at “co-plan weekly”?

The research is clear on this and it's also short: co-plan weekly, during common planning time. That's good advice as far as it goes. It assumes a master schedule that gives a pair overlapping prep, and it assumes everything a pair needs to decide can be decided in forty-five minutes.

When a pair has no shared prep, they plan in the doorway and over text, and the room settles into one teacher leading while the other supports. So the first ask is always the same: align common prep in the master schedule. That fix costs nothing and outlasts any contract with us. Even then, some of the planning was never going to fit into forty-five minutes.

The core of it

When do our pairs actually plan?

Facilitated co-planning days

A full day for the planning that never fits in a prep period: setting norms at the start of the year, mapping the year, planning a unit properly, sitting down with summative assessment data. We join virtually in the morning to set the focus, the middle of the day belongs to your pair, and we come back at the end to close it out. Most sites run one a quarter, timed about three weeks before a new unit starts.

Where a pair has no common prep, these days are the only shared planning they get, and we build them that way. Where common prep already exists, keep it for week to week planning and use these days for the work that needs a longer runway: mapping the year, building a full unit, sitting down with a round of assessment data.

Teachers love these days. They tell us it is what makes co-teaching, and teaching generally, sustainable, and more than a few have said they could not keep co-teaching without them.

See what changed

Two colleagues reviewing plans together at a table

How do we get better between the planning days?

Coaching cycles

Observation, feedback, and modeling with your pair between the planning days, on a cadence that fits your calendar. Always with both teachers together, because coaching one of them separately is how pairs drift apart.

What should I be looking for when I walk in?

Walkthroughs with leaders

Classroom visits alongside your site leaders, using look-fors you have agreed together, so they see what the coach sees and can follow up between visits.

We want our own coaches leading this

Co-Teaching Coach Training

Preparing your coaches to do the whole job: run coaching cycles with pairs, lead walkthroughs with site leaders, and facilitate co-planning days. Built from the materials we use ourselves and shaped around the people you are training.

Ask about coach training

How will we know it's working?

Measurement built into the engagement

Whatever we run with you gets measured: whether coaching moves show up in the room, what each co-planning day produced, which models pairs actually use across the year, and what happens to course grades in the co-taught sections.

See how we measure

What teachers said after a co-planning day

From 148 exit slips collected at the end of facilitated co-planning days, August 2025 through October 2026. Teachers fill these out before they leave, and the form is anonymous unless they choose to sign it.

100%

The planning time

Said the paired planning time was a productive use of their day.

99%

The relationship

Said the day strengthened their co-teaching relationship.

99%

Coming back

Want to keep attending, across two school years and every site.

I feel more confident to teach next to my co-teacher. I was previously nervous about her expertise, so it was nice to get to know her and build a stronger relationship where I feel comfortable to teach side by side.
Co-teacher, end of day exit slip
Glynis provided me with some new co-teaching models, such as One Teach, One Summarize, that would be easy to implement, as well as some tasks that could be delegated to my co-teacher that would help engagement and lighten the burden for myself.
Co-teacher, end of day exit slip
I will be testing out a new communication method with my co-teacher that I brought up during my planning session today with Glynis. I was also able to plan ahead so that my co-teacher can accommodate where she deems necessary.
Co-teacher, end of day exit slip
I will try to speak more, take up more space in the classroom. As we plan, maybe I can take over presenting for some lessons.
Co-teacher, end of day exit slip

Where it showed up in grades

3x

Passing with a C+ or higher

Nearly three times as many students with disabilities passed their classes with a C+ or higher at one Los Angeles charter high school, after a year of quarterly facilitated co-planning days.

The work has been incredible as we have had facilitated co-planning days which focus on providing me and the US History [teacher] with time to get to know each other, assess our strengths and weaknesses, and how to use different co-teaching strategies to support our students with disabilities. … They are always friendly and supportive of what we need and have always walked away with more tools and knowledge to keep the work going.
Ismael S., teacher
Glynis Shulters working through plans with a colleague

The Co-Teaching Resource Library

Over 180 practical co-teaching tools you can use the week you get them. Planning protocols, model guides, quick checks, look-fors and research briefs, licensed to a school or district so every pair can reach them rather than one coach with a login.

Available now

District and school licenses

Every co-teaching pair on your campuses gets the full library, with onboarding so it actually gets used.

Ask about a license

The call is free and runs thirty minutes.

Coming soon

Individual teacher and coach access

I'm a…

Start with one conversation about your pairs

Tell us how co-teaching is set up at your site now, what the schedule allows, and where it's getting stuck.

Book a free call See how we measure whether it worked

Questions we get asked

What is a facilitated co-planning day?

A full day for the planning that never fits in a prep period: setting norms at the start of the year, mapping the year, planning a unit properly, or sitting down with assessment data. We join virtually in the morning to set the focus, the middle of the day belongs to the pair, and we come back at the end to close it out. Most sites run one a quarter, timed about three weeks before a new unit starts.

Our co-teachers have no common prep. Can co-teaching still work?

Yes, and it is the most common situation we are called into. We start by asking schools to align common prep in the master schedule, because that fix costs nothing and outlasts any contract with us. Where it is not possible, facilitated co-planning days become the shared planning time the pair would otherwise never get.

How quickly do teachers put any of it into practice?

Teachers leave the day with specific moves they can use immediately. Across 148 exit slips collected between August 2025 and October 2026, 100 percent said the paired planning time was a productive use of their day and 99 percent said it strengthened their co-teaching relationship.

Can our own coaches learn to run this?

Yes. Co-teaching coach training prepares internal coaches to do the whole job: run coaching cycles with pairs, lead walkthroughs with site leaders, and facilitate co-planning days. It is built from the materials we use ourselves and shaped around the people you are training.

Do you work with schools outside California?

Yes. Layered Education works with schools, districts and families across the country.