Strategies and Practices of Special Education

STRATEGIES FOR
TEACHING SPECIAL
EDUCATION
1. PROVIDE A RANGE OF LEARNING
MATERIALS
If you’re looking for instructional strategies for special education, one of the
most crucial things to bear in mind is that your classroom may have to cater to a
broad spectrum of strengths and abilities.
To achieve this, make sure that you keep your classroom well-stocked with
various resources, materials, and equipment. Whether it’s reading books,
textbooks, or toys for playtime, provide an array of items that will be suitable for
students of different ages and abilities. This inventory will make it much easier
for you to give everyone the support they need without forcing standardized
resources on people who would find them too easy or too challenging.
2. GROUP YOUR STUDENTS TOGETHER
Another of the top teaching strategies for special education is splitting

your students into small learning groups.
Suppose some of your students are still learning to read while others are
working on their reading comprehension. It can be counterproductive for
everyone involved if you ask them to follow the same instructions. With
student groups, you can make it much simpler to provide personalized
service that gives everyone the space they need to grow.
benefits include:
•Small groups can boost the confidence and self-esteem of your
students. The reason is that they create an environment where quieter
students feel empowered to speak up.
•Group learning fosters collaboration between students from different
social and cultural backgrounds.
•Students learn more and retain information for more extended periods
when learning is a social activity.
3. CREATE CLASSROOM THEMES
Because you may be teaching such a wide range of abilities, it can be

challenging to create a sense of cohesion in your classroom. Your students will
probably have different educational needs. It can make it difficult to integrate
students with their classmates in different groups.
To strike the perfect balance between whole-class and group learning, organize
your lesson plans around central themes. Whether it’s a period of history, a
talking point, or a recent event, setting a theme will help you structure your
teaching and set common objectives for your students.
4. COVER THE BASICS FOR EVERYONE
One of the main benefits of structuring your lessons around a theme is that
it enables you to teach general concepts to your class as a whole.
Thematized curricular development is one of the best teaching strategies for
special education because it means you can combine individual learning
with whole-group introductions. It helps to create a sense of community
within your classroom.
Before setting your small group activities, start your lessons by giving all of
your students a general introduction to the topic. Your students can then
apply this new knowledge to their particular task.
5. CREATE CONSISTENCY
One of the best instructional strategies for special education is to stick to a

routine to help your students stay on track. This consistency could be a daily
or weekly schedule, structured around a lesson timetable that includes
regular breaks.
If you’ve decided to split your cohort into small groups, you may need to
adapt your schedule to suit each group individually.
6. SET CLEAR GOALS FOR YOUR STUDENTS
When you’re teaching a wide range of abilities, it can be challenging to

monitor every students’ progress. But whatever teaching strategies for
special education you follow, it’s vital to make sure your children have key
objectives. These goals will help them reach their potential.
From weekly targets to exam results, your students should always have
personal goals. Make regular time to discuss expectations with each child
individually to make sure they feel challenged, valued, and fulfilled.
TEACHING
PRACTICES OF
SPECIAL EDUCATION
1.Focus on student outcomes, not inputs
If the current approach isn’t achieving great outcomes,

current practices must be reviewed and modified. The
districts that have successfully raised achievement for
students with special needs and other students who
struggle are the districts that keep the focus on results.
2. Effective general education instruction is key
Students with special needs and students who struggle

spend most of their day in the general education
classroom; therefore, core instruction provided by the
classroom teacher must meet most of their needs.
3. Ensure all students can read
In order to raise achievement for all students who

struggle, districts need to faithfully implement
best practices for teaching reading and ensure that
students with mild to moderate disabilities are
benefiting from these best practices.
4. Provide extra instructional time every
day for students who struggle
Students who have difficulty achieving grade-level
standards often need more time for instruction in order
to catch up and keep up with their peers. At both the
elementary and secondary levels, this additional time
can be used to pre-teach materials, reteach the day’s
lesson, address missing foundational skills, and correct
misunderstandings.
5. Ensure that content-strong staff provide
interventions and support
As standards have risen and the complexity of the

content has increased, staff's having a deep
understanding and mastery of what they teach becomes
even more important. A teacher who has engaged in
extensive study and training in a particular subject is
more likely to have a wider repertoire of ways to teach
the material.
6. Allow special educators to play to their
strengths
Districts that have made strides in improving

services for struggling students have focused on
ensuring that teachers are able to play to their
strengths.
7. Focus paraprofessional support on health,
safety, and behavior needs, rather than
academic needs
Paraprofessionals play a critical role in the lives and
education of many students, especially those with severe
needs, autism, or behavior issues, and have helped expand
inclusion. However, paraprofessionals have also been
given a growing role in supporting academic needs.
8. Expand the reach and impact of social,
emotional, and behavioral supports
Addressing students’ social, emotional, and behavioral n

eeds
is critical, and many districts have responded to a
growing need for these services by adding counselors,
social workers, or paraprofessionals but still feel more is
needed.
9. Provide high-quality in-district programs
for students with more severe needs
These districts felt they lacked sufficient numbers of

students at any given grade level to justify the cost of
such services. This needn’t be the case. If a district has at
least three students with similar needs within the same
age range, it may be more cost-effective to establish an
in-house program than to place the students in an out-of-
district program.
10. Know how staff spend their time and provide
guidance on the effective use of time
The district must work collaboratively to establish
expectations regarding the service delivery model and to
set guidelines on the amount of time to be spent with
students.
Given the vast range of tasks that staff perform, it is
challenging for districts to develop an in-depth
understanding of how staff spend their time.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING

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STRATEGIES FOR

Another of the top teaching strategies for special education is splitting

Because you may be teaching such a wide range of abilities, it can be

One of the best instructional strategies for special education is to stick to a

When you’re teaching a wide range of abilities, it can be challenging to

If the current approach isn’t achieving great outcomes,

Students with special needs and students who struggle

In order to raise achievement for all students who

As standards have risen and the complexity of the

Districts that have made strides in improving

Addressing students’ social, emotional, and behavioral n

These districts felt they lacked sufficient numbers of

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