Using Coteach to Support Diverse Learners and Students with IEPs

In our last blog post, we explored how you can use Coteach to design effective Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. Today, we'll continue with the theme of strategic, differentiated supports—this time focusing on how Coteach can help you create meaningful accommodations and modifications for diverse learners and students with individualized education plans (IEPs).

The Challenge of Coherence

TNTP's report, The Opportunity Makers, reveals exactly what trajectory-changing schools do to consistently support their most vulnerable students. One of their three defining pillars? Coherence—a unified instructional program where everything connects.

Here's what coherence looks like in practice: There's seamless alignment between Tier 1 instructional content, the supports that provide onramps to this content, and the assessments that measure learning. Students experience their school day like “interlocking puzzle pieces”—everything they learn in one setting helps them with the next.

This might sound straightforward, but the reality is more complex. Most schools supporting diverse learners rely on a patchwork of resources: the core curriculum, various online remediation programs, diagnostic tools, and specialized intervention materials. Each often lives in its own silo, only tangentially connected to grade-level content.

These tools aren't inherently problematic—many are excellent. But without intentional alignment, we risk creating what TNTP calls a troubling paradox: "the students who receive the most support have the most disjointed experiences at school."

Trajectory-changing schools avoid this trap. They align resources and supports so that what students do in intervention, small group, or specialized settings directly prepares them for success with grade-level content in their Tier 1 classroom.

How Coteach Can Help

This is where Coteach can transform your approach to supporting diverse learners. Because Coteach directly integrates IM® v.360 by Illustrative Mathematics®, you can create accommodations, modifications, and specialized supports that maintain alignment with your students' grade-level math content.

Let's explore three strategic ways to leverage this power:

Strategy 1: Design Pre-Unit Diagnostics & Aligned Supports

The Challenge: Students with IEPs often have gaps in prerequisite skills that create barriers to accessing new content. Without addressing these gaps strategically, students fall further behind despite receiving more support.

How Coteach Helps: Instead of generic remediation, create targeted diagnostics that pinpoint exactly what students need for upcoming grade-level content, then build aligned supports that serve as bridges to success.

Try These Prompts:

• "What core skills and prior knowledge will my students need for success in this unit?"

• "Create a brief diagnostic assessment that identifies which of these prerequisites my students have mastered."

• "Design a mini-lesson that builds [specific skill] using visual models and manipulatives."

Pro Tip: Use these supports as preview sessions before your core lessons. This way, students who need extra support encounter and practice critical concepts before lesson-level learning, setting them up to engage successfully with grade-level content alongside their peers.

Strategy 2: Create Caregiver Partnership Letters

The Need: Just as coherence between interventions and core content is critical, so is coherence between home and school. Caregivers are indispensable partners, but they need clear, actionable information about their child's learning.

How Coteach Helps: Generate family-friendly communications that explain grade-level learning goals and provide concrete ways caregivers can support their children at home—all aligned with your classroom instruction.

Try This Prompt: 

• "Write a caregiver-friendly letter explaining what students will learn in this unit on [topic]. Include 3-4 practical strategies families can use at home to reinforce these concepts."

Strategy 3: Develop Alternative Assessments That Honor Student Strengths

The Reality: Traditional end-of-unit tests may not be the most appropriate way to assess students with IEPs. Many IEPs specifically require alternative methods for students to demonstrate their mathematical understanding.

How Coteach Helps: Create assessment alternatives that maintain alignment with grade-level learning goals while honoring how your students best show what they know.

Try These Prompts:

• "Create an oral assessment protocol where students can explain their mathematical reasoning for this unit's key concepts."

• "Recommend three alternative assessment methods for a student with [specific learning needs] that align with this unit's learning goals."

Building Truly Inclusive Mathematics Classrooms

The power of using Coteach for IEP support lies in maintaining what TNTP calls "focused direction"—everything you create serves the same grade-level expectations while providing the flexibility diverse learners need to access rigorous content.

When you use Coteach to create IEP supports, you're not lowering expectations or creating separate curricula. Instead, you're building bridges that help students with diverse learning needs engage meaningfully with the same challenging mathematics as their peers.

Ready to create more coherent supports for your diverse learners? Head to Coteach now!