What are They?

Many of the instructional practices identified as effective for students with disabilities are effective for all students and can be implemented in the general education classroom. Ball and Forzani (2010) asserted, “Although teachers need to thoroughly understand the material they teach, that is not the same as knowing how to teach it” (p. 10).

These instructional strategies are referred to as high-leverage practices (HLPs). Ball and Forzani (2011) defined HLPs as, “those activities of teaching which are essential; if they cannot discharge them competently, teachers are likely to face significant problems” (p. 19).

Effective teaching requires teachers to know about their students and “their intellectual habits, misconceptions, and interests”, as well as the “ways in which students’ personal and cultural backgrounds bear on their work in school” (p. 20). Knowing this information allows teachers to provide appropriate instruction designed to meet their specific needs (Ball & Forzani, 2011).

Aligned with Standards

The Professional Standards and Practice Committee (PSPC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) working in collaboration with the CEEDAR Center and the Teacher Education Division (TED) of CEC identified and developed a set of 22 HLPs for special education teachers (McLeskey et al., 2017).

The HLPs were organized in four areas of practice including:

(a) collaboration

(b) assessment

(c) social/emotional/behavioral practices

(d) instruction.

Some HLPs included:

(a) collaboration with school professionals

(b) interpreting and communicating assessment data to design education programs

(c) using explicit instruction and flexible grouping

(d) providing intensive instruction

(e) adapting curriculum tasks and materials for specific learning goals

(f) using strategies to promote active student engagement (McLeskey et al., 2017).