---
title: Co-teachers
category: student-management
order: 4
lastUpdated: 2026-06-08
featureAvailability: GA
roles: [admin, teacher]
navigationPath: Students → (open a student) → Teachers
relatedArticles: [administration/teachers, teacher-portal/teacher-quick-start, student-management/student-records]
---

## At a glance

- **Who uses it:** Admins setting up co-teaching arrangements; teachers requesting access to a co-taught student.
- **When to use it:** Whenever two or more teachers share instructional responsibility for the same student.
- **Permissions required:** Admins assign co-teachers; teachers see their assigned and co-taught students.
- **Navigation path:** Students → open a student → Teachers tab.

## Purpose

A student has one **classroom teacher** for routing purposes (default recipient of teacher-facing notifications), and may have any number of **co-teachers** who get the same in-portal visibility. Co-teaching keeps every educator looped in without duplicating records.

## Step-by-step

### Add a co-teacher (admin)

1. Open the student. Go to the **Teachers** tab.
2. Click **Add co-teacher**.
3. Pick a teacher from the directory.
4. Save. The teacher immediately sees the student in their Teacher Portal.

[SCREENSHOT: student-coteachers-tab]
_Students → open student → Teachers tab with one classroom teacher and two co-teachers listed._

### Remove a co-teacher

Open the row, click **Remove**. The teacher loses portal access to this student. Historical notes and feedback they authored remain.

### Change the classroom teacher

Click the radio button next to a co-teacher to promote them to primary. The previous primary moves to co-teacher unless you remove them.

## What co-teachers can do

- See the student in their Teacher Portal.
- Submit referrals on the student's behalf.
- Receive notifications for teacher-visible case notes.
- Provide teacher feedback on open cases.

What they cannot do:

- See other students who are not theirs.
- See internal facilitator notes.
- Modify the case beyond feedback and referral submission.

## Tips & best practices

- Limit co-teachers to educators with current instructional responsibility — co-teaching is FERPA-relevant access.
- Use the **Primary** designation deliberately; it controls default notification routing for that student.

## Common mistakes

- Adding every grade-level teacher as a co-teacher "just in case" — that's an over-grant of access.
- Forgetting to remove co-teachers at the end of the year — review at year-end as part of your roster reset.

## Related articles

- [Managing teachers](/help/administration/teachers)
- [Teacher Quick Start](/help/teacher-portal/teacher-quick-start)
- [Student records](/help/student-management/student-records)

## FAQ

**How many co-teachers can a student have?**
There is no hard cap. Districts typically see 1–3 per student for co-taught classes.

**Can a co-teacher become the primary if the primary leaves?**
Yes. An admin promotes them via the radio button on the Teachers tab.