Students with disabilities are increasingly participating in co-taught classes where they have access to the general curriculum. However, researchers have discovered that co-teaching often resembles solo teaching and does not include specially designed instruction shown to be effective for students with disabilities. How can middle and secondary…

As students with disabilities increasingly are included into the general education classroom, teachers at all grade levels need to be knowledgeable about supports that promote student success. An assistive technology (AT) is any device or program that promotes the success of students with disabilities. This article provides an overview of ATs and…

Learning strategy instruction is an evidence-based practice for teaching adolescents with mild disabilities. However, researchers have not developed strategies for every content area or skill. Therefore, teachers need to be able develop strategies based on the needs of their students. This article reviews the process for developing and teaching…

General and special educators have used many instructional strategies to help students with learning disabilities (LD) succeed in school. One of those strategies is cue cards. As a vehicle for supporting evidence-based practices, cue cards help students (a) learn academic and behavioral steps, principles, procedures, processes, and rules; (b)…

As general education classrooms become more diverse, teachers continue to explore ways to support students' learning. Study guides support students in learning their material, focus their attention on important topics, and help them review for quizzes or tests. This article provides successful classroom-tested ideas for developing and using study…

Recent legislation such as No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 has made significant changes in how all students are assessed. Because scores on state and district tests have important implications for students, parents, and school personnel, teachers and students should approach testing with…

Co-teaching is gaining popularity as an instructional delivery service for supporting students in diverse classrooms. In spite of recent research indicating its effectiveness, co-teaching does not always realize its potential; often due to interpersonal or communication issues occurring between co-teachers. This article describes ways co-teachers…

One of the challenges of providing students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum is their skill in using grade-level materials. Due to their expository nature and specialized vocabulary, textbooks in particular pose challenges for students. This article presents an activity that promotes familiarity with textbook structures…

Many students with disabilities require specialized instructional interventions and frequent progress monitoring in reading. The guided repeated oral reading technique promotes oral reading fluency while providing a reliable data-based monitoring system. This article emphasizes the importance of problem-solving when using this reading approach.

This article presents 20 activities to promote phonemic awareness in students, including teaching nursery rhymes, playing the "I Spy" game using initial sounds of words, creating a sound box, having students sort picture cards based on initial sounds, playing phoneme deletion games, and having students clap and count syllables. (Contains 4…

Results from a survey of 199 secondary special education teachers indicate they employ a variety of instructional strategies, some judged more effective than others, and that their use of instructional methods does not appear to significantly change with the number of years of their experience nor necessarily parallel effective practice. (Contains…