High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) in Special Education: Guide #4 - Instruction

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 (#4) focuses on Instruction and walks you through four HLPs related to Instruction, which are:

• HLP 11: Identify and prioritize long- and short-term learning goals.
• HLP 12: Systematically design instruction toward a specific learning goal.
• HLP 13: Adapt curriculum tasks and materials for specific learning goals.
• HLP 14: Teach cognitive and metacognitive strategies to support learning and independence.

For each HLP, assessment activities are provided, along with step-by-step guidance.