Most schools want general and special education teachers to collaborate, but fewer have built the systems to make it actually happen. The IGNITE Nashville Network exists to close this gap.
Launched in summer 2024 through a national partnership between the DLC, TN SCORE, and Marshall CoLab, IGNITE Nashville supports co-planning implementation across ten Nashville charter schools as a sustained practice embedded into how schools operate.
The early results tell a compelling story about what’s possible when inclusive instruction is built into the design.
Why Systems Matter More Than Good Intentions
Research suggests that co-planning, where general and special education teachers collaborate to design instruction that meets the needs of all learners, is one of the most effective tools we have for inclusive classrooms.
In practice, however, here’s what often happens: co-planning gets squeezed into hallway conversations, or it depends on the initiative of individual teachers, or it starts strong in September and quietly fades by winter break.
That’s not a people problem, it’s a system problem.
IGNITE Nashville was designed to address these challenges head-on with structured professional learning, instructional coaching, and shared tools that give school teams what they need to make co-planning stick.
What Support Looks Like
Over the 2024–25 school year, IGNITE Nashville schools received targeted coaching from the DLC alongside high-quality professional learning facilitated through the network. The model isn’t about adding more to educators’ plates, but building the infrastructure so that inclusive practices become part of the routine, not something extra.
As one site lead shared:
This leader emphasized the importance of protecting time. When systems are intentionally designed, educators don’t have to fight for the space to do this collaborative work, it’s already built in.
The Results
During the 2024-25 school year, course passage rates increased for all students, with and without disabilities, in IGNITE Nashville classrooms. The gap in passage rates between students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers narrowed from 23.74% to 17.61%, reflecting more equitable access to grade-level learning.
On the educator experience side, 100% of participants rated their professional learning facilitators as Very Effective, and school site leads rated DLC coaching support at 4.57 out of 5.
These numbers reflect what happens when schools move from hoping co-planning will happen to designing the conditions for it.
What This Means for Your School
You don’t need a network to start building better systems for co-planning. Here are a few questions worth sitting with:
- Is co-planning protected time on your master schedule, or does it depend on teachers finding moments? If it’s not scheduled, it’s not yet a structured system engrained in your school design.
- Do your co-planning teams have shared tools and protocols, or are they starting from scratch each time? Consistency in the process frees up energy for the creative, student-centered work.
- Is there someone coaching and supporting co-planning teams, or are they on their own? Even strong teams benefit from an outside perspective and a layer of accountability.
The shift from default to design doesn’t require a massive overhaul, but with looking honestly at where inclusive practices are being left to chance and making intentional decisions to change that.
Looking Ahead
As IGNITE Nashville finishes its second year, the DLC has focused on expanding the network to additional schools, increasing educator independence, and sharing lessons learned nationally through our continued partnership with TN SCORE and Marshall CoLab.
When inclusive instruction is built by design, it doesn’t just benefit students with disabilities, it strengthens learning for everyone.
Ready to partner with DLC? Visit our website to learn more.