Effective Co-Servicing: A Collaborative Approach to Special Education Support, with Katy Chib & Swinita Shah

Co-teaching is a teaching method in which general and special education teachers collaborate to plan and deliver instruction together in the classroom and has been well-established across Maryland public schools. Co-servicing is a similar model but involves collaboration among special education service providers and is developed specifically around educational programming for students with disabilities. In this session, we will explore the benefits of co-servicing and demonstrate its practical application through a live demonstration. Participants will observe how special education professionals can combine very different fields of knowledge to collaborate on shared objectives and maximize instruction. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for developing a co-service approach in their own schools or for requesting co-service implementation for children with IEPs.

Katy Chib, owner of Beacon Education Solutions, developed a passion for advocacy while teaching in the classroom. She started out as a substitute teacher in rural Michigan but spent the majority of her teaching career working with students with disabilities in central and southern Los Angeles. Later, as an IEP chair and school administrator, she gained an intricate knowledge of best practices by writing and implementing hundreds of IEPs. 

Katy’s advocacy-related credentialing includes an M.S. in Special Education and Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD) Certification from the University of LaVerne, Autism Authorization from UCLA, and School Leadership and Administration from Johns Hopkins.

Swinita Shah, owner of Charm City Speech, draws upon her personal experience as a special needs sibling to provide specialized and inclusive speech pathology services. With a Masters from Baylor University, her education further enhances her dedication to delivering tailored and impactful care for clients. Swinita's goal is to make communication functional for her clients. As a speech pathologist, Swinita is able to provide assessments, therapy sessions, in school observations and caregiver coaching.