High-Leverage Practices (HLP) in Special Education, developed by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEDAR), are guidelines that provide those involved in special education teacher preparation and professional development with a set of best practices, identified through consensus among special educators. These HLPs may be used to design a cohesive set of practice-based opportunities to support teacher candidates and practicing teachers in learning to put this know-how to use on behalf of the complex learners they teach.

High-Leverage Practices in Special Education are organized around four aspects of practice: Collaboration, Social/Emotional/Behavioral; Assessment; Instruction. This guide (#3) focuses on social/emotional/behavioral HLPs, and walks you through the four HLPs related to social/emotional/behavioral, which are:

• HLP7 - Establish a consistent, organized, and respectful learning environment
• HLP8 - Teachers provide positive and constructive feedback to guide students’ learning and behavior
• HLP9 - Teach social behaviors
• HLP10 - Conduct functional behavioral assessments to develop individual student behavior support plans

For each HLP, simple yet effective strategies are provided, along with step-by-step guidance.