High-Leverage Practices in Special Education

Special education teachers, as a significant segment of the teaching profession, came into their own with the passage of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, in 1975. Since then, although the number of special education teachers has grown substantially it has not kept pace with the demand for their services and expertise. The roles and practice of special education teachers have continuously evolved as the complexity of struggling learners unfolded, along with the quest for how best to serve and improve outcomes for this diverse group of students. High-Leverage Practices in Special Education defines the activities that all special educators need to be able to use in their classrooms, from Day One.

HLPs are organized around four aspects of practice ―collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral practices, and instruction―because special education teachers enact practices in these areas in integrated and reciprocal ways.

The HLP Writing Team is a collaborative effort of the Council for Exceptional Children, its Teacher Education Division, and the CEEDAR Center; its members include practitioners, scholars, researchers, teacher preparation faculty, and education advocates.

• High-Leverage Practices for K-12 Special Education Teachers
• Research Syntheses: Collaboration High-Leverage Practices
• Research Syntheses: Assessment High-Leverage Practices
• Research Syntheses: Social/Emotional/Behavioral High-Leverage Practices
• Research Syntheses: Instruction High-Leverage Practices

James McLeskey (Chair)

University of Florida

Mary-Dean Barringer

Council of Chief State School Officers

Bonnie Billingsley

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Mary Brownell

University of Florida

Dia Jackson

American Institutes for Research

Michael Kennedy

University of Virginia

Tim Lewis

University of Missouri

Larry Maheady 

SUNY Buffalo State

Jackie Rodriguez

William & Mary

Mary Catherine Scheeler

The Pennsylvania State University

Judy Winn

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Deborah Ziegler

Council for Exceptional Children